PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 5: Harvey Elliott of Liverpool celebrates 0-1
during the UEFA Champions League match between Paris Saint Germain v Liverpool at the Parc des Princes on March 5, 2025 in Paris France (Photo by Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images)
Harvey Elliott points to the cameras after his late winner sealed a sensational 1-0 victory for Liverpool at Paris Saint-Germain (Image: Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images)
If a team is to be successful in the Champions League, then they need more than one way to skin the cat. So when Liverpool, surely the continent's most complete team this season, come up against a side of their equal, that they have different routes to victory is something that should excite supporters for what might just be possible this season.
On another night, the Reds would be heading home with nothing to show for their efforts and nursing the sort of bruising defeat that gives them little chance of a second-leg turnaround, barring another famous L4 night in the European Cup.
Instead, they will welcome Paris Saint-Germain to Merseyside as big favourites next week, in possession of a 1-0 victory that was earned through grit, dogged determination and a smattering of star power at the back, particularly in goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who was genuinely world class.
"I don't think I have worked with a goalkeeper who has played at this level because he is the best in the world," said Slot. "I had some very good players as a manager but never had the best goalkeeper in the world, which I think he is. He showed that today."
The Brazil international was sensational here as PSG were repelled time and again but in a game where the Liverpool were only able to lay claim to less than 30% possession, it was their stubborn rearguard that came to the fore for a third successive clean sheet in games against Manchester City, Newcastle United and a PSG team whose 22-match unbeaten run is now over.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, a player often maligned for not being as exceptional a defender as he is a creative force, was outstanding in the second period, snuffing out PSG's raids down that side, more often than not through Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, with the help of team-mates.
It was an influential performance with a difference from Alexander-Arnold, who was happy to forsake the chance to be creator-in-chief in favour of a more sober, intelligent display; sitting in, defending deep and ensuring the spaces and gaps were closed.
A much-improved defensive performance collectively after the break forced PSG into shots from more difficult angles and increasingly improbable distances and Alexander-Arnold deserves ample credit for a part of his game that is so often the target for criticism.
Elliott makes his point
It was earlier this year when Slot revealed Harvey Elliott had been banging on his door demanding answers. The midfielder, as Slot told it, simply wanted to know why he was continually being overlooked, only to be told that the form of those being regularly picked in the engine room ahead of him meant they could not be dropped.
Elliott, who accepted the explanation, later played down how serious and intense those conversations with Slot were, but there can be no denying that talks had taken place over a lack of game time.
Here, he needed just 47 seconds to make the point to his manager, who himself admitted that frustrations were growing from a player who featured as many as 53 times in Jurgen Klopp's final season.
"Harvey has shown how important he can be," Slot told TNT Sports. "I said to him: 'I assume you are quite frustrated with me because you hardly play and you only get five minutes at the end tonight.'"
With Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch rotating for the three midfield positions, Elliott has been made to bide his time for opportunities and hasn't started in the Premier League this term.
An untimely foot injury, detected on England duty back in September, certainly didn't help matters but if there is to be a belated launchpad for his career under Slot then this simply has to be it.
Southampton, at Anfield on Saturday, will be the ideal way to hand that first league start to a lifelong Liverpool fan who will have been walking on air as he underwent his post-match warm-down routines at the Parc des Princes.
Nunez ready to fight
The delivery method of Darwin Nunez - and the timing of it, just moments after public criticism from his manager - could both be questioned, but the subject matter of the striker's defiant riposte on social media in the wake of his Aston Villa howler last month was indicative of a fighter.
Barely 12 hours after the most glaring miss of the campaign, in that 2-2 draw, Nunez vowed: "You will never see me throw in the towel. I will give it my all until the last day I am here in Liverpool."
To his enormous credit, the Uruguay international has proven true to his word and helped out his struggling team-mates off the bench here with a performance full of menace that was just about enough to put the cat among the pigeons in the final third.
Liverpool hadn't looked like even creating a chance until the closing stages but Nunez's introduction did allow them a player who was more willing to stretch the play. Within moments of his arrival, he caused indecision in the PSG penalty area between Marquinhos and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, even if a presentable chance didn't come his way in the 25 minutes or so he contributed here.
Despite his team-mates being unable to find him in space, Nunez stuck to the task and kept alive a loose ball late on before having the clarity of mind to pick out the unmarked Elliott to strike home the winner. It was an invaluable contribution.
"Darwin was in a difficult place after the Villa game and after it was another home game against Wolves but he has shown how important he can be," Slot said.
It hasn't quite gone to plan generally and these may very well be the end times for Nunez at Anfield but, just as he said he would, he is clearly determined to give his all to the last.