PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 05: Ibrahima Konate of Liverpool (R) tackles Bradley Barcola of Paris Saint-Germain during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Round of 16 first leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool FC at Parc des Princes on March 05, 2025 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Ibrahima Konate avoided a red card for his challenge on Bradley Barcola (Picture: Getty)
Luis Campos launched into a furious tirade at referee Davide Massa during the half-time break after Ibrahima Konate avoided a red card in last night’s Champions League clash.
Arne Slot’s side emerged with a scarcely believable 1-0 victory on the night with Harvey Elliott completing a smash an grab raid, scoring with his first touch in the 87th minute, just 40 seconds after coming on as a substitute.
The Reds enjoyed several astonishing slices of luck and were indebted to goalkeeper Alisson Becker who produced a masterclass which he described as the best performance of his career.
Quite how the Brazil international would have coped had Liverpool been reduced to 10 men in the opening period after Konate appeared to have bundled Bradley Barcola to the floor.
The VAR made a lengthy check before deciding to stick with the on field decision and offer Konate a fortuitous repriece.
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‘There was a VAR check,’ said the Liverpool defender after the gam. ‘If there was a push, like you said, I would have been shown a red card.
‘I’m telling you that there wasn’t a foul. It’s true that I am very strong but I don’t apply power, I just put my arm. If I had put a lot more power into it then we could talk about it… but it was soft from me.’
Campos, however, clearly begged to differ with that take and was filmed giving the referee a piece of his mind as both teams made their ways to their respective dressing rooms at the interval.
‘It’s a red card and a penalty,’ Campos could be heard screaming before Virgil van Dijk interjected, pithily replying with ‘This isn’t Ligue 1 bro’.
After the game, the Reds’ captain warned his teammates that their Champions League suffering is not yet over after coming through a gruelling examination.
PSG were so dominant – they outshot their opponents 27 to two and had more than 70 per cent possession – Liverpool looked a different team from the one which has opened up a 13-point lead in the Premier League having won their first seven European matches conceding just one goal.
It was torturous viewing for fans inside the stadium and watching on television and was not that much fun for the players either who, particularly in the first half, looked a shadow of their best selves.
Paris Saint-Germain v Liverpool FC - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Round of 16 First Leg
Alisson Becker was incredible for Liverpool at PSG on Wednesday night (Picture: Getty Images)
Although Elliott’s goal changed the complexion of the tie, next week’s return at Anfield has the potential to be equally fraught against a team who saw their 10-match winning run – in which they scored 40 times – and unbeaten sequence stretching back to November ended.
‘It should be a great game and we have to be ready to suffer as they are a very good team who were unbeaten for a very long time,’ said Van Dijk.
‘A team that has blown sides away this season and we have managed to keep a clean sheet (PSG failed to score at home for the first time this season), get a 1-0 win and put ourselves in a good position.
‘I think you could see, it was not the usual game we like to play.
‘We don’t want to be playing this way because everyone who plays football wants to have the ball a lot and wants to be dominating opponents.
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Harvey Elliott celebrates with Alisson Becker (Picture: Getty Images)
‘But we played against a team with a lot of quality, world-class quality, and they made it very difficult for everyone in the world so far and they made it difficult for us but we found a way and we have to try to finish it off next week.’
In the first half Liverpool were more rattled than they had been for many a season, even including their two Champions League final defeats to Real Madrid in 2018 and 2022.
Not since the 2019 semi-final first leg in Barcelona, ahead of that famous Anfield comeback on their way to winning the trophy, had they looked more overwhelmed.
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Harvey Elliott scored a late winner for the Reds past Gianluigi Donnarumma (Picture: Getty Images)
Yet they managed to hold out largely thanks to a man-of-the-match performance from goalkeeper Alisson Becker and PSG started to run out of ideas in the last 20 minutes.
Asked whether it had been his toughest test in a Liverpool shirt Van Dijk added: ‘I don’t know because I felt like we knew they would come blazing out in terms of the press one v one.
‘Our plan was to go over the press and make runs in behind and it worked a couple of times but I think we were a bit too rushed at times with our decision making.
‘But what I really liked was the togetherness, everyone put a shift in and we know everyone can be better.’
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