Manager Arne Slot admitted his side were lucky to beat Paris Saint-Germain after the French side dominated the game
PARC DES PRINCES — Paris Saint-Germain supporters could hardly believe their eyes. After 27 shots, more than 70 per cent possession and just one shot on target conceded, they were leaving the Parc des Princes beaten 1-0.
Harvey Elliott’s late strike gave Liverpool the most unlikely of leads to take back to Anfield after a dominant PSG side failed to turn that dominance into Champions League last-16 goals.
The French champions did have a first-half strike by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ruled out for offside and believed Ibrahima Konate should have been sent off for barging Bradley Barcola.
But Alisson Becker’s “performance of my life” kept PSG at bay and ensured they failed to score at home for the first time this season.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot though was keen to point out that they had, in fact, defended well and not allowed PSG many shots from inside the box: none of the 10 saves Alisson had to make came from closer than 12 yards of goal and only five from inside the penalty area.
But they would not, inevitably, have been so effective in those preventative measures if Konate had been shown a red card after 25 minutes.
Italian referee Davide Massa did not initially stop the game when the lively Barcola was went down on the very edge of the box, but at the next break in play a check for a potential red card was initiated by his countryman Aleandro Di Paolo the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
It was not a long stoppage though and when Massa waved play on, the PSG protests furiously resumed.
“That’s a foul,” said former Man Utd defender Rio Ferdinand on TNT Sports.
“And that’s in his back, that’s a foul. It’s a red card.
“I can’t believe how lucky Liverpool are here. How has VAR not picked it up. He is barging between the shoulder blades on his back.”
VAR says no ❌
Liverpool's hearts are in their mouth for a moment as VAR checks Konaté's challenge on Barcola, but the referee waves play on 👀
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/VRWWQuymub
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 5, 2025
With Barcola’s position, it was clearly a goal-scoring opportunity and if it had been judged a foul, no one denied it would have had to be a red card. Even Slot seemed to hint that Liverpool had got some rub of the green on the decision.
“Apart from that one moment where you could argue if it’s a red yes or no…” Slot said.
“I didn’t feel he was in favour of us or in favour of them. It was just a top referee that should be in a game like this.
“I think if the referee would have blown his whistle the VAR would not have overturned it and now it was also clear for me that he should not have overturned it because it wasn’t clearly wrong.”
Slot was careful with his words in the week where it was revealed he had called referee Michael Oliver a “f**king disgrace” after the 2-2 draw with Everton last month to earn a two-match ban and a hefty fine – although he could not seemingly resist a veiled reference to it.
“I was very happy that in a difficult circumstances over here, the referee wasn’t [sic] impressed,” Slot added.
“That’s not always in away games the situation.”
He too conceded that is side were lucky that Kvaratskhelia was shown by the VAR to be offside by just half a heel in the build-up to what appeared to be the opening goal.
The semi-automated offside in use in the Champions League would have removed any influence the crowd had on the decision anyway, but it was the only time Alisson was beaten all night and it was narrowly chalked off.
Despite the refereeing decisions though, it felt far more like Liverpool had been saved by an Alisson performance that a combination Bert Trautmann, Gordon Banks and Lev Yashin in their primes would have struggled to match. And he certainly made more saves than another Liverpool keeper on record in a Champions League game.
VAR says no ❌
Liverpool's hearts are in their mouth for a moment as VAR checks Konaté's challenge on Barcola, but the referee waves play on 👀
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/VRWWQuymub
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 5, 2025
“I think this is one of the best goalkeeping displays I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Peter Schmeichel, a man who has had a first-person view of plenty of his own.
At one point, Alisson was scrambling around the box like a crazed rock-climber, defenders falling back to the goal-line while he dealt with the problem at source before, having been stopped by Alisson twice in five seconds, he finally fired over the bar.
Three times in the second half he produced almost identical body shapes to keep his left corner unblemished, flinging himself across to deny Kvaratskhelia twice from 25 yards and then Desire Doue, who gave a distinctly Gallic shrug in response as if to say “what else can we do?”.
But Slot’s claim that they actually did defend quite well stands up. PSG, for their 27 shots, ended with an xG of 2.58, a high but not astronomical number: Liverpool’s league average this season is 2.43.
“All the efforts the team put in makes my job easier,” Alisson said, his only concession of the night.
“It was probably the performance of my life. The manager was telling us how hard it would be to play against PSG, how good they are with the ball and that we would have to be ready to suffer. We knew what was coming.”
In six days, it will come again. But that will be at Anfield.