Daniel Taylor's match report
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Because we’re heroically fair-minded at the Guardian, here are the player ratings from France Football:
Liverpool: Alisson 5; Alexander-Arnold 7; Gomez 6; Van Dijk 7; Robertson 6; Henderson 6; Milner 8; Wiljnaldum 7; Mané 5; Salah 5; Sturridge 6.
PSG: Areola 5; Meunier 5; Silva 5; Kimpembe 4; Bernat 3; Marquinhos ; Rabiot 4; Di Maria 4; Mbappé 4; Neymar 3; Cavani 3.
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Jürgen Klopp: “It was really important that we started the game as we did. They changed the system a little, bringing Neymar on to the left wing and playing Di Maria in the half-space. Not a bad idea. You had to really keep your focus. But we did really well, covered a lot of yards and closed all the spaces … and we used the right wing – Neymar is a world class player but he’s not a defender so we tried to use that.
Regarding Sturridge, the Liverpool manager says “Daniel had a super game. A super game. I told him before the game that I’ve never seen him as fit as he is at the moment. He was all over the park, everywhere for us, and he used the ball really well and was in the box when you need it. And then when we can bring Bobby Firmino on, that helps a lot too. [PSG’s] second goal was unnecessary, of course, but that’s the quality they have. The game in Paris will be tough. But we deserved three points and I’m really happy.”
James Milner: “It’s a massive result. It’s the perfect start for us and hopefully we can build on it. We would have been very disappointed [to draw] and I can’t say enough good things about Bobby to come off the bench and score a goal like that ... There’s a lot more to come from this team and we just want to keep improving. You can see already how we’re improving, staying in games and sticking it out.”
As we await word from the mangers, here’s what emailer brandon Dwonch has to say: “One point would have been a disappointment. We set the standard in a tough group. Sloppy goals by both sides. Winning tough games is what is needed for silverware.” In this group’s other match, Red Star Belgrade drew 0-0 at home to Napoli.
Here’s a curious thing: the replays on BT show that as Liverpool’s bench celebrate Firmino’s winning goal, Salah, sitting down, flings a plastic water bottle to the ground. Some of you are suggesting via email that he was peeved that it wasn’t him that scored, but perhaps he just hurled the bottle in sheer joy, being too knackered to get up and jump around?
Robertson and Sturridge give their verdicts
Robetson: “I think all the fans and players have been waiting since May for the Champions league to start back. We got off to a good start but then made it hard for ourselves. Bobby came off the bench to score …. to a man we were brilliant.
Sturridge” “It’s great to contribute for the team but it’s early days, only one game, so we’re not getting too excited.” The striker also says how pleased he is that Liverpool showed “hard work, determination, all those things the managers talks about and is ingrained in us now.”
Robertson: “I felt we controlled [the match], though obviously we lost a goal just before half-time. Then in the second half we mad a sloppy pass in midfield and that was probably the only time they really opened us up. But the chances kept coming for us and Bobby produced a great finish. We’re good at getting in people’s faces, especially at home. We know that if we do that the fans will get behind us even more.”
Full-time: Liverpool 3-2 PSG
It’s a fully deserved victory for Liverpool, even they needed a stoppage-time goal by Firmino to atone for the late sloppiness that allowed PSG to equalise. The visitors never matched Liverpool’s intensity, instead relying on ad hoc individual brilliance to get them off the hook. A super-talented disgrace, they nearly got away with it, but Firmino served justice with a sweet late strike. Liverpool’s biggest names were slightly below par but there were big performances from the likes of Milner, Wijnaldum, Robertson and Alexander-Arnold, and Sturridge made an encouraging return to the starting lineup. But Firmino came off the bench to hit the glory goal. Last year’s runners-up are up and running again.
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90+2 min: Firmino celebrates by covering his sore eye with one hand, as his team-mates rush over to tell him how happy they are that he was able to overcome that bother to plunder that late goal. Now, can they hold on this time?
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GOAL! Liverpool 3-2 PSG (Firmino 90+1)
The Brazilian fires a low shot through lots of bodies and into the net after PSG fail to clear a corner. The substitute has surely won it for Liverpool!
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90 min: Mané digs out a fine cross from the left. It’s fractionally too high for Firmino. Milner retrieves it on the far side and sends it back into the danger zone. But Silva heads away.
87 min: Mané does well to collect a pass by Robertson outside the PSG box and then sweeps it wide for Alexander-Arnold, whose cross is blocked.
85 min: A superb pass by Neymar splits the Liverpool defence right open. Draxler tries to take advantage but his shot from 18 yards is blocked. Suddenly Liverpool are looking very vulnerable ...
Liverpool substitution: Shaqiri on, Salah off.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-2 PSG (Mbappé 84)
PSG land a sucker punch with unwitting help from Salah! Perhaps lulled into a false sense of security by PSG’s indolence, Salah played a loose pass in his own half, presenting the ball to Neymar, who sprinted towards the Liverpool box. He then rolled the ball into Mbappé past a befuddled Van Dijk. Mbappe touch a touch and fired into the net from eight yards! The visitors’ first shot of the second half gives them an equaliser that should not have been possible!
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83 min: Mané exchanges a one-two with Salah in th ePSg boxes and then dinks the ball over the lunging Kimpembe and dashes down the byline. He tries to lash it into the net from an acute angle but misses.
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83 min: Milner brings a half to a Neymar scramble with a vital touch at the edge of the Liverpool box. In the last minute or so Neymar has sparked into life ...
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PSG substitution: Choupo-Moting on Cavani off.
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81 min: Foxy touch touch from Neymar to open up a crossing chance for Meunier. Van Dijk makes a good clearance. “You are all over Tuchel but has Klopp improved Liverpool this season?” wonders Bruv. “This season’s football is more solid that stylish. More functional than fantasy.” True, but Leicester and Brighton have caused them more problems than PSG so far.
79 min: PSG knock the ball around at a leisurely pace in their own half. Liverpool watch them, perhaps wondering whether this is some hi-falutin’ subterfuge or are the visitors really this lame? It’s as if PSG are trying to live up to the stereotype of bullies who can’t handle it when someone takes the fight to them. They aren’t usually like this so early in the tournament. Then again, they’re up against last season’s finalists.
76 min: Another slack pass by PSG in midfield gifts the ball back to the hosts.
74 min: Liverpool take their time in the opposing half, with PSG showing no inclination to intervene. Have they seen the scoreboard?
72 min: A liverpool corner is cleared only as far as henderson, who lofts the ball back into the danger zone. Van Dijk helps it on with a header, which runs into the path of Salah, whose shot is deflected wide.
Liverpool substitution: Firmino on, Sturridge off. The Englishman leaves to a deserved ovation and the Brazilian enters to one. That third goal for Liverpool is surely on the way ...
70 min: Cavani heads a Milner corner out for another one...
68 min: Rabiot gives the ball away to Henderson in the centre circle. Liverpool get a counter going. But they overcomplicate it at the edge of the box and let PSG off. But they’re going to get a third here, it’s almost guaranteed. PSG are a super-talented disgrace.
66 min: Freekick to Liverpool about 25 yards out. Milner clips a sly one over the wall for the overlapping Alexander-Arnold, who smashes it first time across goals. Silva clears before Salah can tap in from close range.
65 min: This is such a patchy display by PSG, If, as Dani Alves says, Tuchel has done much to improve the side’s mentality, he still has a lot more work to do. “Shaqiri is warming up in the manner of a cricketer trying to catch the captain’s eye because he’d like to have a bowl,” observes Marie Meyer. “He and Sturridge were great together in the pre-season, it would be good to see him come on.” There’s a case for taking off Salah, who’s still below par compared to last season.
62 min: Having escaped with two close shaves, there’s still no sign of extra urgency for PSG here. The way things are going, a third goal for Liverpool is looking far more likely than an equaliser by the slightly listless visitors.
60 min: Alexander-Arnold moseys down the right again and delivers a perfect cross for Sturridge, who has a free header from seven yards ... and nods tamely at the keeper! another let-off for PSG.
Goal disallowed!
Liverpool were well into their celebrations after Salah poked the ball into the net but the referee belatedly whistled to rule out the goal! Presumably the officials have decided that Areola was fouled in the buildup as he tried to snaffle a ball that bounced off Sturridge’s foot. Sturridge lunged at the ball to try to retrieve the situation but caught the keeper on the follow-through.
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55 min: Buoyed by his goal and perhaps also by that half-time hug from his manager, Sturridge is becoming ever more involved in Liverpool’s attack. He’s showing good strength on the ball and a really lively mind and lithe touch. Frankly, it’s good to see from a player who’s been so bedevilled by injuries.
53 min: Mbappé almost ridicules Henderson and Robertson down the right, tricking his way past both with almost effortless ease. But his cross is cut out with similar ease by Gomez.
52 min: A lovely touch by Sturridge, flipping the ball first-time around the corner to Wijnaldum after being picked ut by Sturridge. But PSG descend quickly on the Dutchman to snuff out the danger.
51 min: Robertson launches on long towards Sturridge. But Kimpembe wins it easily.
49 min: Bernat, undeterred by his goof in the first-half that led to the penalty, makes a good challenge on Salah in the PSG box, tidily relieving the forward of the ball and extinguishing a threatening move.
48 min: Sturridge rolls a pass into Salah just inside the box. The Egyptian uses his strength to hold off the defender and lay it back for Sturridge. But Silva intervenes before the striker can get a shot off.
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47 min: It’s a tame start to the second half. Liverpool stroke the ball about in their own half and PSG let them do so. They’re not going to be coaxed into pressing Liverpool high just yet.
46 min: Off we go. Neither team made a substitution during the interval.
Here we go again ... the teams are walking back out, with Klopp’s shoulder draped around Sturridge as the manager delivers some last-minute instructions. “Score again” is the gist of it, I imagine.
Looking at PSG’s goal again, I should mention that Cavani - in an offside position - tries to connect with the cross before it runs through to Robertson, who inadvertently helped it on to Meunier. That counts as interfering with play and thus the goal should have been ruled out for offside.
Half-time: Liverpool 2-1 PSG
Liverpool have a deserved lead and can be confident of scoring again in the second half, partly because of the freedom they are getting to attack down the wings. But PSG are certainly not out of this and carry an obvious threat on the break even if their vaunted offensive trio have not really shone. The game hasn’t quite reached the level of quality we’d hoped for but it’s gripping, all the same, and very much in the balance.
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44 min: Meunier booked for pulling back Mané.
43 min: Alexander-Arnold has enjoyed plenty of space throughout this half because Neymar has no interest in tacking back. It was, in fact, an overhit cross from the right that found it was to Robertson in the buildup to Liverpool’s first goal. Mbappé isn’t doing much defending on the other wide, either.
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GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 PSG (Meunier 40)
Di Maria swings in a cross from the left. Robertson fails to get a decisive touch, knocking it straight to Meunier, who spanks it into the net from nine yards. As we said, this lead is far from safe for Liverpool...
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36 min: It’s worth reiterating how mindless that tackle was by Bernat. Wijnaldum was looking about as inoffensive as a player can look when in the opposing box, surrounded by opponents and heading the opposite way to goal. There was little need to challenge him, let alone in as desperate a way as Bernat did. Should we put that down as another implosion caused by the intoxicating Anfield atmosphere? The pressure Liverpool are applying? Traditional PSG bottling it, even if Bernat is a newcomer?
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GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 PSG (Milner pen 36)
Milner guides a hard and low shot into the bottom corner past Areola, who went the right way but couldn’t get near it. What a position Liverpool are in now. Not that a two-goal lead can ever be considered safe, as Liverpool fans know well.
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PENALTY to Liverpool
Bernat takes down Wijnaldum with a daft challenge just inside the box!
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35 min: Liverpool are caught out by a clever corner routine, as Mbappé peels out of the six-yard box, thereby eluding the attentions of Alexander-Arnold. The corner is delivered quick and low to the striker but he lifts his shot over from nine yards.
34 min: An infringement by Milner gives PSG a freekick in a dicey position: about 28 yards out, a little to the left. Neymar steps up ... and blems towards Sturridge, who deflects it out for a corner.
33 min: Having made the first cut, Liverpool are going in for the kill! There’s renewed zip and menace to their play and PSG are being made to wobble at the back, especially after a jagged run into the box just now by Salah.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 PSG (Sturridge 31)
Very little involvement, you say!? The striker made an impact when it mattered most, planting a header past Areola from six yards after being picked out by a sumptuous cross from the left by Robertson!
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30 min: Sturridge has had very little involvement so far.
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29 min: More unsteadiness from Van Dijk, as he fails to properly clear the ball with Mbappé lurking at the edge of the box. Alexander-Arnold tidies up instead. It seems the threat of Mbappé has rattled Van Dijk, at least momentarily. He’ll need to regain his composure pronto....
28 min: Van Dijk booked for clumping into Mbappé after misjudging an attempted to cut out a pass near half-way.
27 min: After the corner is cleared, Henderson picks it up and plays it wide to Mané, who shimmies beautifully past Neymar and into the area. But then comes the bit that he won’t mention to his grandkids, as he shanks his shot way wide.
27 min: Liverpool crank up the tempo and stretch PSG for the first time in a while. Milner’s cross from the right is put behind for a corner.
26 min: As PSG grow more confident, Di Maria has a pop from 25 yards. But he doesn’t catch it quite right and it’s a comfortable save for Allison.
25 min: PSG are starting to look a little more comfortable and having more of the ball, albeit mostly in innocuous places. The Liverpool storm has subsided.
23 min: Silva makes a decisive tackle to thwart Mane as the forward tried to race on to a through-ball. That was important because Areola had made a rash run to the edge of the area and was never going to get to the ball before Mane.
19 min: A loose pass by Mbappé undermines a promising counterattack for PSG.
18 min: After patient probing PSG create an opportunity. Van Dijk heads away a cross from the right by Meunier but Neymar then gathers it about 20 yards out. He skips easily past one and lets fly from the edge of the area. Allison parries and Cavani tries to convert the rebound but can’t get a clean touch on it, making the save an easy one for the keeper.
17 min: Another corner for Liverpool, their sixth of the match. Salah fizzes in an out-swinger. Gomez, arching backwards, heads a decent effort a yard over the bar.
16 min: Neymar attempts to spring a counter-attack by clipping a long pass over the top towards Mbappé. But it’s too hefty and runs all the way through to Allison.
14 min: PSG are trying to quell the Liverpool storm by keeping possession. They can do that inside their own half but as soon as they try to venture into Liverpool’s, Mané hurtles over to dispossesses them. Liverpool are on it so far!
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12 min: Mané wraps his left foot around a shot from 20 yards. He strikes it with power but curls it into Areola’s arms.
10 min: Liverpool win yet another corner. Before taking it Salah decides to remove the vest under his jersey. Then he lands his delivery right on the keeper, who pushes it out for another. The next one is cleared by Rabiot.
9 min: The loudest cheer of the game so far as Milner makes a crunching tackle on Neymar and comes away with the ball. The very definition of hard but fair there and, credit where it’s due, Neymar didn’t try to claim otherwise.
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8 min: This is a strong spell by Liverpool, applying lots of pressure. A 20-yard shot by Milner takes a deflection and arrows past the post for another corner.
6 min: Milner takes a short corner to Salah while PSG take a nap. Salah returns it to Milner, who runs along the byline and then fires across goal. Van Dijk swivel to get off a shot from eight yards, forcing Areola to push it behind.
5 min: Milner sends over an outswinging corner from the right. Cavani heads it away at the hear post.
3 min: Kimpembe pings a low pass out to Neymar on the right. The Brazilian embarks on a dance across the field, sidestepping three opponents before trying to slip a pass through to Di Maria on the right. It’s slightly overhit but the way the Brazilian sped sped past so many players will have heightened nerves.
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2 min: If Liverpool were hoping for another whirlwind start, it hasn’t materialised. Rabiot nicks the ball off Mané near half-way and feeds Cavani, who’s shunted to the ground by Henderson. The ref decides to take a lenient stance early on; other might have booked Henderson.
1 min: Liverpool-PSG is go! The hosts are playing towards the Kop ...
The home team are all in blood red while the visitors wear biker-jacket black. We are are ready to rumble...
There’s some people on the pitch ... it’s the teams: kickoff is imminent. Hold on to your hats!
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The teams are in the tunnel ... and Allison is locked in an affectionate embrace with Neymar, while Thiago Silva warmly greets Firmino. Ah come on, chaps, some of us are trying to hype this up as war by other means...
The teams have yet to make their entrance but a lusty rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone is in full flow, with the PSG fans joining in.
Jürgen Klopp speaks
“I told the boys in the meeting that usually you meet a team like PSG in the knockout stages so we’re lucky to get them already!” quips the German, who also reveals that Firmino may or may not be fit enough for a place on the bench, depending on how he feels during the warm-up. “He was not really close to the starting lineup. He will have a test during the warm-up … so we will have to see. Daniel is in top shape and I’m really happy with that. Having Bobby as an option of the bench for several positions would be good.”
By the way, on the subject of the Anfield atmosphere, we can be sure that the 2,500 PSG fans will contribute to it with gusto: they sure made a heck of a racket on their way to the ground, with drums, megaphones and lots of those smoke bombs that the Joker likes to use, except blue.
“I’m glad Sturridge gets a run out,” exclaims Brandon Dwonch. “A good performance can land him a run in the team a bad performance will result in a poor club in Birmingham the only suitor. Hoping that Salah gets on the sheet. Midfield will win or lose match. 2-1 Liverpool.”
Liverpool’s U19s have set the right tone for the big one by thrashing their PSG counterparts 5-2 earlier. The home team’s goals were scored by Rhys Williams, Bobby Adekanye, Curtis Jones and Rafael Camacho (two). I reckon there’ll be goals in the big one, too, even if both teams would be happy enough with a draw.
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Teams
The big news is that Daniel Sturridge starts in place of Firmino, who’s only fit enough for a place on the bench. Surprisingly, Keita will be sitting alongside him as Klopp has chosen to reintroduce Henderson to midfield instead. PSG’s midfield, meanwhile, includes Marquinhos, who has moved up from centreback because of the suspension to Verratti. Both sides showing an uncharacteristic touch of caution in their lineups, then.
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Gomez, Robertson; Henderson, Milner, Wijnaldum; Salah, Mané, Sturridge
Subs: Mignolet, Fabino, Keita, Firmino, Moreno, Shaqiri, Matip
PSG: Areola; Meunier, Silva, Kimpembe, Bernat; Rabiot, Marquinhos, Di Maria; Mbappé, Cavani, Neymar
Subs: Cibois, Kehrer, Choupo-Moting, Diarra, Draxler, Nkunku, Nsoki
Referee: C Cakir (Tur)
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Preamble
Well how about this for starters? Two of the most exciting attacks in the world trading blows right from Match Day 1 of a mouthwatering group – you can’t say tastier than that! Both of these teams have won all their domestic matches so far this season but neither of them have yet been tested in the way they are likely to be today. Will Liverpool’s new-found solidity withstand the sort of pressure that Mbappé, Cavani and Choupo-Moting Neymar will apply? Can PSG contain Salah, Mané and Sturridge (who replaces the injured Firmino) in an atmosphere that is sure to be intoxicating? Will the decision to start Naby Keita on the bench backfire even if PSG’s midfield is shorn of the suspended Marco Verratti? Those are just some of the questions for which we eagerly await answers, and the education promises to be highly entertaining. Humdinger ahoy!
By the way, if you hear anyone calling Liverpool fans ball-suckers, know that they mean it as a compliment. Probably. It’s all to do with the Kop’s reputation for “sucking the ball into the net” on a big European nights, when the atmosphere can reach truly mind-altering levels. Think that’s just a cliché? Well here’s what two former PSG players said about the only other time this club has played here, which was back in 1997, when the French side arrived with a three-goal lead from the first leg and were nearly blown away at Anfield, where they clung on for a 2-0 defeat. “When it got to 2-0 I started playing for the first and only time in a match with no sound,” said the PSG goalkeeper Bernard Lama. “I could no longer hear the referee nor my team-mates - just the crowd! It was genuinely impressive. All I had to go on from that point on was the gestures of my team-mates and opponents. It was a singular experience.” The PSG striker Patrice Loko said something similar: “If they had managed to take it to extra-time I think they would have beaten us because they were being pushed so hard by their crowd. So very hard.” Isn’t it nice to know that real live people still matter and it’s not just about the watching millions? OK, that match was more than 20 years ago but PSG’s current manager, Thomas Tuchel, has more recent knowledge of how the Anfield crowd and, more pertinently, Jürgen Klopp’s attack ninjas, can overwhelm the visitors. But it’d be foolish to count on PSG bottling it: Tuchel, apparently, has made them more mentally resilient since his arrival in the summer: “He has changed a lot of about the team’s mindset,” said PSG’s Dani Alves,who misses this one through injury. “I have a good feeling about this season. Things are going to improve.”
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