It was a spectacular night of Champions League football as the visitors overcame Liverpool during the second leg of the Round of 16. A stunned Anfield crowd saw PSG advance and their home side get knocked out of the tournament. Penalty shootouts can be a cruel way to exit a competition. In this case, however, Luis Enrique’s side deserved to go through.
What Nearly Was For The Hosts
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The French team was better in the two matchups, and this aspect showcased itself even more as the match went on. Mo Salah had his opportunities to score. The Champions League exit will hamper his potential Ballon d’Or probability. Not because of this specifically, but the winger will regret some missed chances from the bout.
Before the Parisian breakthrough, the Egyptian had two excellent chances. Salah had a golden opportunity, and he usually converted over the week. Nuno Mendes, however, had a timely intercession to push his effort away from the target. His second shot went wide after a give-and-go with Diogo Jota in the penalty area. Unfortunately for the Liverpool faithful, the buildup resulted in a PSG goal kick.
It was this desperation and effort that kept PSG at the forefront for much of the match. LFC continued to threaten their opposition’s goal. During the largely high-tempo up-and-down game, the Ligue 1 side also managed to match this approach.
Succesful Blueprint
This approach resulted in the opening goal by Ousmane Dembélé. Something of a gaffe between the defence and Alisson Becker helped PSG advance. The opportunity came due to PSG staying aggressive. It wasn’t necessarily the best of the chances, but on the whole, based on how everything played out, an early advantage (even on aggregate) was earned.
Often, teams enter games as underdogs, too timid. They elect to sit back and hope to only play on the counter. This is particularly true away from home. Enrique’s side instead took the fight to Arne Slot’s men. In truth, as the match wore on, PSG deserved to go through. In extra time, they looked the livelier of the bunch.
The winner did so in PKs. Gianluigi Donnarumma shone bright at Anfield, as he had throughout the match.
Great Day For Keeper As PSG Advance
The regulation ended without a PSG goal concession. Liverpool could have scored on multiple occasions. It was the Italian goalie, Donnarumma, who repeatedly stepped up. Luis Diaz nearly scored for the hosts off a corner with a header. The 26-year-old used all of his 1.96-meter frame to ensure that attempt out of his net as well.
Declaring a winner required more than the 120 minutes of Champions League action. Some point to the takes by Curtis Jones and Darwin Núñez. The PSG keeper, however, deserves credit.
In a situation that always gives the attacking player the advantage, any save also deserves credit from the goalkeeper. Many number ones are forced to guess where to go before the taker approaches the ball.
Nowadays, the stutter-step approach allows the player kicking the ball not to choose until they see which way the goalie has picked. Donnarumma waited. He saved two of the pens. His in-game and penalty efforts at Anfield saw PSG advance through to the quarterfinals. They are looking like a dangerous contending CL team at the moment, perhaps even going further.
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