Harvey Elliott and Alisson, Liverpool's heroes against a superior PSG

Luis Enrique's PSG were far superior to Liverpool on Wednesday in the first leg of the 2024-25 Champions League round of 16, but, led by a stellar Alisson , the six-time European champions and Premier League leaders achieved what, statistics in hand, seemed almost impossible: they won at the Parc des Princes with a goal from Harvey Elliott , who had just come on, in the 87th minute (0-1). The outcome, on Tuesday, March 11 at Anfield.

PSG dominated overwhelmingly for most of the first half, confirming that they are in great form. Between the former Barcelona player Ousmane Dembélé and Kvaratskhelia , they made the match a constant nightmare for Liverpool .

The Parisians took little time to take control of the game, forcing Liverpool to sit back. Dembélé , this time on the wing, made one foray after another. And in the 21st minute Kvaratskhelia scored, but the goal was ruled out for offside. PSG had 12 shots on goal in the first half, but none from Liverpool .

In the 25th minute, the referee analysed via VAR a play between Ibrahima Konaté (as the last man) and Bradley Barcola , which could have cost the Liverpool centre-back a red card , but Davide Massa dismissed it.

There is no doubt that Luis Enrique 's team deserved to go into the break with the lead, but to do so they lacked precision and Alisson was not as accurate.

Liverpool 's goalkeeper turned into his team's saviour with several great interventions in the first half. In the 30th minute, Alisson made a great save to thwart a chance from Dembélé. Bradley Barcola was unable to capitalise on the rebound. And in the 37th minute, in a play by Kvaratskhelia , who got past two 'Reds', the Georgian winger shot and Alisson responded with a spectacular intervention. Stellar.

The situation did not change after the break. PSG continued to attack and attack, while Liverpool did a great job in defence. All the statistics were in favour of the French, because Mohamed Salah was also inaccurate on the Reds' side and Arne Slot 's men were not getting anything right when they tried to attack.

Luis Enrique brought on Désiré Doué in the 66th minute for Barcola and Slot brought on Darwin Núñez in the 67th for Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones in the 68th for Luis Díaz . In his first attempt to trouble PSG, the Uruguayan striker beat Marquinhos and Gianluigi Donnarumma to the punch .

Alisson was on a roll again, parrying a shot from Doué . The Liverpool goalkeeper then saved a Dembélé ball . But, such is the epic of the 'red' team, in the 87th minute, when PSG had 25 shots on goal and Liverpool only one, Darwin Núñez provided an assist to Harvey Elliott , who connected with a great shot and beat Donnarumma . He had come on a minute earlier for a disgruntled Salah . Liverpool were delirious at the Parc des Princes. PSG could not believe it.