Alisson and Szczesny make it a memorable night for keepers

A night that saw a goal-scoring record was followed by one where goalkeepers took the limelight in the Champions League round of 16.

- Dhiman Sarkar

KOLKATA: Alisson Becker and Wojciech Szczesny took the headlines in Liverpool and Barcelona's escape to victory but Timon Wellenreuther's penalty save for Feyenoord against Inter Milan and Anatoly Trubin's triple save deserve mention even if they came in a losing cause.

Liverpool and Barcelona won the first leg 1-0 through goals from Harvey Elliott (87th) and Raphinha (61st) respectively, but it could so easily have been otherwise. "It was probably a bit more than we deserved," said Arne Slot, the Liverpool manager.

Their careers once entwined at Roma, Alisson and Szczesny have gone different ways since. It was after Szczesny left Roma in 2016-17 that Alisson started to show goalkeeping is indeed in his blood. Alisson's father and grandfather were shot-stoppers as was his brother who now plays in Brazil after a professional career in Europe.

Szczesny moved to Juventus where he stayed for seven years before announcing his retirement. Alisson joined Liverpool when Juergen Klopp broke his promise of never splurging and spent £164m on new signings including a then-record £67m on a goalkeeper. That it came in the immediate aftermath of goalkeeping errors in a Champions League final defeat may or may not have been a coincidence.