CHAMPIONS League ROUND OF 16 FIRST LEG, MARCH 5 2025
Elliott (87)
Liverpool withstood everything Paris Saint-Germain threw at them in this Champions League tie, before hitting the French champions with a late sucker punch. The Ligue 1 leaders were the more impressive side, dominating possession, territory and chances against a team currently 13 points clear in the Premier League. But they came up against an inspired performance from Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, and a resolute second-half display from his teammates in red.
PSG could and probably should have been two or three goals ahead by half-time. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a goal ruled out for offside, while the otherwise impressive Ousmane Dembélé failed to take the chances that came his way. Alisson, however, could claim the lion’s share of responsibility for keeping the score 0-0.
Although Liverpool improved after the break, PSG continued to dominate – albeit with slightly less menace than in the opening period. And as the clock ticked down, a draw looked to be a very good result for the visitors, let alone a win that would end PSG’s 22-game unbeaten run. Not for the first time this season, Arne Slot’s substitutions proved fruitful. Having introduced Darwin Núñez on 67 minutes, the Uruguayan forward showed excellent awareness to pick out a marauding Harvey Elliott, who scored the winner with his first touch just 30 seconds after replacing Mohamed Salah.
How the managers saw it
“Their best player was the goalkeeper,” said PSG head coach Luis Enrique. “We were far better than Liverpool. Far better. But they won the game. That’s very unfair, [but] I don’t see any negative aspects. I’m very proud of my team.”
“They were the much better team today,” said Slot. “Especially in the first half, they had a lot of open chances – three or four big, big, big chances. In the second half they were still the better team, still had a lot of shots on target, but they were mainly from outside the box. I felt like: ‘We can hurt them in transition.’ We didn’t. But we waited until the last moment, and then we hurt them.”
Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches highlight the key tactical themes from a charged Champions League tie…
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SHOTS / ON TARGET
2/1
70%
POSSESSION
30%
41
ATTACKS INTO AREA
14
1.63
EXPECTED GOALS (XG)
0.09
PSG’s fluid 3-2-5
In possession, PSG were fluid with their initial 4-3-3 shape. With their frequent movements and rotations they dominated the ball – and territory – throughout the first half. As Liverpool’s defensive block gradually deepened, PSG often converted into a 3-2-5 attacking shape. Dembélé started as the single centre-forward, but soon drifted to the left inside channel, working well away from the opposition centre-backs and combining with left-winger Bradley Barcola. Achraf Hakimi moved forward from right-back, supporting close to Kvaratskhelia, as PSG built using a converted back three. Their wide pairs attacked around Fabián Ruiz, João Neves and Vitinha in central midfield (below).
As PSG continued to dominate the ball, Vitinha dropped into the back three, which allowed Nuno Mendes to attack higher (below). Mendes tended to do this when Mohamed Salah was deeper and less of a threat on the counter, or when PSG had played a significant number of consecutive passes. Along with this left-sided tweak, Dembélé shifted over to the right, where his 1v1 play created plenty of chances for PSG’s fluid attackers between the lines.
With Liverpool firmly locked into their own defensive third, PSG committed both full-backs high. At the same time, Vitinha maintained his deeper passing role as part of the back three. At the other end, PSG’s narrow front three was supported by the central midfielders positioning themselves slightly higher (below). From there, they attempted to combine between the lines and create chances with skilful play from within Liverpool’s block. Space in the wide areas remained vacant, as PSG had 12 shots at goal in the first half alone, compared to Liverpool’s single effort.
In the second half, PSG continued to attack in a 3-2-5, with Liverpool defending their penalty area with increased numbers. Even their front line dropped back to defend, which meant PSG’s back three could start higher and connect directly with the front line. Because of Liverpool’s central numbers, Dembélé and Barcola – and later Warren Zaïre-Emery – worked the wide areas. They looked to dribble inside when Liverpool’s full-backs had aggressively jumped out, but without adequate cover inside (below). Shots across goal from PSG’s wide players threatened to break the deadlock, but Alisson was on superb form to deny them. Indeed, Luis Enrique’s team became increasingly desperate as Liverpool held firm, with the home side attempting multiple efforts from range as the game progressed.
Liverpool attacking from deep
Against PSG’s high starting position in the first half, Liverpool played direct passes into their front line. With PSG often committing one of their centre-backs into midfield, Liverpool were further encouraged direct (below). The visitors, however, were too often unable to secure the first contact. When they did manage to do this, PSG’s midfielders back-pressed so aggressively that they often covered any passes back into Liverpool’s midfield anyway.
Because Liverpool’s front line defended so deep in the second half, Slot’s team began to connect more with short, rather than long, passes. This required more fluid movements to break out from their block, but as the second half became stretched, Liverpool had opportunities to break out with short, connecting passes. Despite having numbers in positions to expose PSG’s back three on transition, however, Liverpool’s quality on the ball was uncharacteristically poor.
That is, until they reverted to a direct ball in the 87th minute. Darwin Núñez secured a long ball from Alisson and linked with Elliott to give the visitors an unlikely victory. It was Liverpool’s first and only attempt on target, putting them 1-0 up before what promises to be a fascinating return leg at Anfield in six days’ time.
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