With over three quarters on the clock, the television camera panned on the travelling Liverpool support. It was a bleak scene, with the Reds fanbase silenced by an ear-splitting Parisien crowd.
It didn’t last, with the final whistle cueing the roar of a euphoric travelling cohort who had watched their team pull off one of their all-time great Champions League performances.
Paris Saint-Germain were dominant, so completely dominant, but through several variables – some more contentious than others – it just didn’t come together for Luis Enrique’s men.
In large part due to Alisson Becker’s extraordinary goalkeeping performance. The Brazilian made nine stunning saves and was heralded as “the best goalkeeper in the world” by Daniel Sturridge after the match (likely a viewpoint shared by many).
Oh, Liverpool had the rub of the Parc des Princes green, sure, but this was also a resilient and unified performance. Forget the man between the sticks, the outfield crop of nearly every other Premier League outfit would have been felled by this twirling Paris battleaxe.
The sum of Arne Slot’s Liverpool is greater than its individual parts. Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz struggled, but Harvey Elliott stepped up off the bench, combining with Darwin Nunez to fire beyond Gigi Donnarumma, rusty from a night of immobility.
However, Liverpool’s best forward was paradoxically one of their worst on the evening. Mohamed Salah endured a nightmare, reduced to scraps that he wasted.
Mohamed Salah's third-rate match
First class all season, but not on the evening. Salah was unable to add to his 30-goal and 22-assist haul for the campaign, but he won’t have cared a jot as Liverpool left with a 1-0 lead in the bag.
It wasn’t a good display from the Egyptian, who was expertly marshalled by Nuno Mendes and failed to create anything of note, losing all eight duels and failing with each of his four attempted dribbles.
The 32-year-old’s saving grace was his commendable 86% passing accuracy (19/22), according to Sofascore. When many failed to connect just two passes, Salah at least sought to instil a semblance of fluidity to quell the PSG onslaught. And it was an onslaught.
The all-important attacking catalyst, perhaps Salah will be pleased to have seen someone else take his burden for a change. Elliott replaced the beleaguered superstar and was the match-winner all of 47 seconds later. It was the 87th minute – talk about smash and grab.
Salah wasn’t the only one who flattered to deceive. Indeed, Ryan Gravenberch endured an abject display in the middle of the park, and it was a match which demanded his silk and substance in a crucial central battle.
Why Slot must drop Ryan Gravenberch
For the lion’s share of the contest, PSG’s deafening support relished the one-sided beatdown their team were inflicting on Europe’s standout team of 2024/25.
But the lion’s share wasn’t enough.
And that’s despite Gravenberch’s terrible performance. Penning his post-match thoughts, The Liverpool Echo’s Ian Doyle could only hand the Netherlands star, 22, a 4/10 match score, for he was hounded out of possession in multiple crucial phases and sliced simple passes into the abyss many times too, actually losing the ball 13 times despite Liverpool’s nominal time in possession.
In contrast, Salah was given a 5/10 rating. Doyle noted the talisman’s lack of service – a by-product of Gravenberch’s struggle. It wasn’t solely down to his non-showing, but he will no doubt hang his head after being reduced to mincemeat, thus negating much of Liverpool’s attacking attempts.
Minutes played
79′
Touches
40
Accurate passes
18/26 (69%)
Key passes
0
Possession lost
13x
Dribbles
0/2
Tackles
3
Interceptions
2
Duels won
4/6
Regarding his actual defensive effort, Gravenberch did okay. However, he was indeed terrible on the ball, simply overwhelmed by the noise and occasion and opponent.
The lack of security was baffling, and journalist Ben Kelly brutally remarked that the £150k-per-week talent was served a “reality check” in his pursuit of becoming “a truly world-class midfielder.”
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Liverpool’s backline were immense, growing into the game as they deflected pressure, funnelled PSG’s offensive lanes into less dangerous areas. Alisson put in an all-timer of a performance, no doubt, but not without the aid of his battling defenders.
Gravenberch, however, offered little as he was swarmed by Joao Neves, Vitinha and the like.
Let’s contextualise this. Post-match, Slot made an interesting point relating to Liverpool’s defensive strength acting as a box cushion from which PSG were forced into sideward areas, rifling strikes from range that the redoubtable Alisson stood firm against.
Make no mistake, Liverpool were ragdolled in the French capital, a far cry from their usual standards and unable to find even the vestiges of their fluency against Manchester City in similar tactical conditions last month.
PSG were just too good.
0
Goals
1
27 (10)
Shots (on target)
2 (1)
1.39
1st half xG
0.13
0.39
2nd half xG
0.15
1.78
Total xG
0.28
3
Big chances
1
Well… good insofar as ball dominance, slickness and style are concerned. But Liverpool jetted back across the Channel 1-0 winners, limiting their opponents to a rather modest xG creation. Metrics don’t tell the tale of the tape, but they do provide the material.
However, Gravenberch wasn’t one of the most influential members of this bashed and bruised rearguard, carved open by an incredible triad of hive-mind midfielders, who acted as one and did so with matchless coordination. This is the toughest opponent Slot has faced at Liverpool.
At his best, Gravenberch could make the grade in such a midfield to be sure. But there’s little question he’s been run ragged in the throttling pace of charging Liverpool’s engine.
Is it any wonder? Last season, after Jurgen Klopp signed this talented Dutchman from Bayern Munich – then aged 21 and with a £34m price tag – he would only start 12 Premier League matches, a square peg seeking a round hole. Tactically, it didn’t quite come together.
But now, he’s breathtaking, flying high toward that lofty potential which was portended for him during his breakthrough days at Ajax.
Great power comes with great responsibility and all that. There is a ring of truth to the proverb, however, with Gravenberch starting every single one of Liverpool’s Premier League fixtures this season and all but one of their efforts on the continent.
It’s for this reason Gravenberch should be relegated to the bench when Liverpool host Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon. Arsenal are beginning to find their groove again and a slip-up cannot be afforded, not now the Merseysiders must juggle multiple fronts.
Moreover, the press-resistant midfielder will need to be back to his best next week. Liverpool have claimed a slender advantage, but it’s by no means impregnable. Anfield fell to Atalanta last season and PSG will be hungry for revenge after the most dominant of losing performances.
We’ve all seen the unrelenting intensity PSG can – and most likely will – bring to the table. Anfield awaits next week, and it will be a whole new ball game (literally) for the French giants.
Liverpool, of course, must do better, cannot rely on Alisson’s heroics in such a manner again. They will be breached.
On Saturday, Gravenberch should be dropped for the first time in the Premier League this season. Flailing Southampton are nine points adrift at the bottom of the division, and the Reds have enough firepower to rest some sapped legs ahead of next week’s second-leg showdown.
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