Alisson turned in one of the great individual performances as Liverpool pulled off a stunningly underserved victory against PSG.
Gavin Cooney AT THE END of it all, Caoimhín Kelleher cut a line through the stunned silence at the Parc des Princes and embraced the man he knows he’ll never dislodge as Liverpool ’s number one.This is why Kelleher will leave Liverpool in the summer, but why he might sent on his way with another Champions League winners’ medal in his pocket.
This generosity can at least be used as more evidence of Alisson’s good character when he is tried after this game as an accessory to larceny. In the final minutes, having soaked up PSG’s brutal pressur and with the clock ticking to a goalless draw that would feel like a win for Liverpool, Alisson larruped a long ball down the field and on top of Darwin Nunez who, in keeping with the night’s alternative energy, suddenly had the coolest head in the Parc des Princes.
Once Elliot scored, this game could be recast as a masterful away European performance by Liverpool. It wasn’t. For much of this game, the hypemen of the Premier League could be heard shifting uneasily in their seats, muttering, “Are…we the Farmer’s League?” Under Arne Slot, Liverpool have generally liked to bait the opposition press, but tonight they quickly realised they had to avoid it altogether. Hence the game-plan was to Get It Launched, and while Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota gallantly scrapped for second balls, Liverpool were overwhelmed. Liverpool tonight had to experience what they used to do to opponents under Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool survived to half-time through luck more than judgement, as Joao Neves and Barcola both blasted over the crossbar from inside the six-yard box. At half-time Liverpool agreed that this was a night to be endured, and so they dug in. Thus simplified, Andy Robertson looked like his old self while Trent Alexander-Arnold transformed himself into a dogged, reliable full-back.
Three times in the second half Alisson had to deal with low shots and crosses across the six-yard box, and rather than push them out to more danger, he managed to dig the ball, volleyball-style, out of the penalty area entirely.
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