Ibrahima Konate offered an honest assessment after Liverpool's narrow away win over Paris Saint-Germain
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Ibrahima Konate is interviewed by LFC TV after Liverpool's 1-0 win away at PSG
Ibrahima Konate is interviewed by LFC TV after Liverpool's 1-0 win away at PSG
(Image: LFC TV)
Ibrahima Konate has admitted he hasn’t seen a better goalkeeping performance than Alisson Becker’s against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night, while he was delighted for Darwin Nunez as the Liverpool striker responded well after recent criticism. The Reds clinched a narrow 1-0 victory over the Ligue 1 giants in the Champions League round-of-16 in the Parc des Princes after Harvey Elliott scored a late winner with his first touch off the bench.
However, the result in Paris was admittedly against the run of play, as PSG dominated Arne Slot’s side for the majority with Alisson having to make a record nine saves to keep the scores level.
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Elliott then scored the winner moments after coming on in place of Mohamed Salah, as the England Under-21 star finished well after being played in by fellow substitute Nunez.
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The Uruguayan’s match-winning contribution came only two weeks after Slot had criticised the striker publicly for his performances against Aston Villa and Wolves, with Nunez facing outside backlash after missing an open goal in the 2-2 draw at Villa Park.
Should Liverpool avoid a PSG comeback in next week’s second leg at Anfield, they are likely to face Aston Villa again in the Champions League quarter-finals after the Villans won 3-1 away at Club Brugge on Tuesday night.
And Konate paid tribute to his team-mates for their match-winning contributions against the Ligue 1 outfit, on what he admitted was a special occasion personally for the Paris-born defender back in his home city.
“It’s very special. I had the opportunity to play with Liverpool as well in the final of the Champions League and we didn’t win,” he said. “Today was more special because we played against PSG and a lot of my friends were there, they were with our fans, and I’m very happy. Let’s go again.
“We need everyone until the end of the season. We know some players don’t play a lot and this is sometimes difficult. But like today, we need everyone and that’s why we have to say a great job and thank you to them.
“Even if they didn’t play the last few games, they are still focused and when they came in they just scored.
“Darwin, I’m very happy for him because we can remember the game against Aston Villa, so many people criticised him because he missed a big opportunity – and today he came in and because of him we won, and Harvey as well. It’s great for us.”
He continued: “Ooh la la la la la! I’ll try to think (of a better goalkeeping performance) but I don’t think so, I don’t think so, I don’t think so.
“Thank you Ali today – he had a very great night and I hope we will have this Ali until the end of the season.”
Meanwhile, Konate admitted he was not surprised by PSG’s dominant performance against Liverpool, and admitted the Reds will need to improve for next week’s second leg back at Anfield.
“A surprise? Not really because we knew PSG are a great team, maybe one of the best in Europe,” he told LFC TV. “And we knew today they would have the ball more than us, we knew this already.
“And we knew this game, it’s just about details. At the end, we go with 1-0 and I think this is great. But we have to be aware and focus as well when we play [the second leg] at home because we know they have a lot of quality.
“Sometimes in the Champions League, it’s like that. We saw a great team. Sometimes the opponent dominates the game. But at the end, we just remember who won the game.
“Today, okay, we suffered a little bit but we had to accept it to make the effort all together. We ran until the end and that’s why at the end we scored, and we are very happy.
“For sure the job is not done, nothing happened. I think the most important game will be at home and in this day we have to make the job.”