Liverpool and PSG went to the distance on Tuesday evening, and Gianluigi Donnarumma saved two reds kicks in the shootout to send Luis Enrique’s team to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The visitors were forced to dig deeply through Ousmane Dembele, whereby the team of Arne Slot enjoyed their first period in the tie in the second half.
There was subtle change of pulse, and PSG remained a threat throughout the end of the extended period. The Ligue 1 leader from this point were perfect, while Donnarumma Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones denied enriques men.
Her display on Merseyside was not quite as dazzling compared to what they produced in Paris, but the performance of PSG in the two legs showed that they have what it takes to go all the way.
Here are four things that we learned from the second leg in Anfield.
How many times have we seen how PSG teams have folded this type of environments over the years? Behind the tie with Anfield, which enables a wild start in Liverpool, yesterday’s outfits would have succumbed safely.
But once again, this outfit, led by Luis Enrique, has proven that they consist of strict stuff. After PSG dominated in the last week before the end of the last week, PSG had to offer a Grit and defended box to keep its early lead.
We enjoyed PSG with larger names that have insured more, but they have never shaped them so much about such a highest cohesion. All tropics with which earlier iterations were beaten will be faded in a post-Kylian Mbaope world thanks to Enriques Excellent Coaching and PSG’s philosophical change. This is a brilliant team to see, with their telepathy in possession of it by relentlessly assuming.
It is not just about Dembeles remarkable form or the familiar name Marquinhos, which has repeatedly sounded heartache in this competition, but also the emerging brilliance of Willian Pacho, her fiying-wing back, which contributes to both ends, as well as the small frames in the middle of the park, which are loaded with guile.
Oh, and how about the teenager, Desire Doue, who won it from 12 meters? You are currently the best on the continent.
Seeing how Gianluigi Donnarumma flies around in a penalty shot is a sight that no English football fan is reminded of.
While Liverpool has one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Alisson, he does not quite have the aura of the 6’4 Italian when they open and try to beat it from 12 meters. The Brazilian got a glove for Vitinha’s open opening kick, but was emphatically beaten by the others. On the contrary, Donnarumma threw himself left and then to the right to refuse Nunez and Jones. His rescue from the latter was particularly brilliant.
The heroic deeds of the Italian helped PSG for their first penalty shooting in every UEFA competition. After exceeding a bad start to create a flawless performance that was littered with efficient strokes to raise the threat from Liverpool’s deliveries.
Arne Slot’s proactivity was praised in the first year of his Liverpool office, and it was a surprise that the Dutch took as long as he did to turn his bank.
In a night in which Nuno Mende Mohamed Salah exceeded in the points after his TKO win last week, Liverpool would have reached one of the supportive acts of the Egyptians to increase them. The slot chose Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota here, with Dominik Szoboszlai offering a relentless running force from the midfield.
The Hungarian was impressive, but Diaz and Jota tried to fill the emptiness that was left by a subdued Salah. Jota has enforced a stop start campaign, and he was not matched by a PSG backline that excellently commanded her box. While he pulled a few fouls in the second half to bring Liverpool onto the field, he hardly had a goal and often had difficulty knitting things on the counter.
Diaz was undoubtedly ready and typically injected, but the determination red enjoys the opposite flank so often from the right. The Colombian hesitated in crucial moments.
Salah’s inevitability this season has masked potential defects in Liverpool’s attacking arsenal, and on Tuesday showed that a few strikers of a slot striker can be upgraded.
They associate the former Napoli winger, who quickly reached the ground in Paris with dazzling foot and a aesthetics. However, Kvaratskhelia’s willingness to work is a criminically underestimated aspect of its outstanding skills.
There is a reason why Antonio Conte around the Napoli team around series A MVP 2022/23 was so interested. He is not only immensely talented, he is also ready to get into the ground to contribute to the collective.
His selflessness fitted him with ease into Enrique. He was majestic in the first leg without a reward, and on Tuesday there were some sequences that were typical of Kvaratskhelia’s work. The wing player returned quite to Alexis Mac Allister in the first half and made a challenge for the Argentinian, who produced a reaction of the Kop. When PSG’s back against the wall in the second half was, Kvaratskehlia was aware of the restoration of parity at night from a offset from a offset to Salah’s Toranz effort.
The dream of a manager.