Redemption for PSG trio in thrilling win over Liverpool

"We suffered a lot in Paris but football is that way. Unfair at times. Today, we were lucky." Luis Enrique's words summed up a night where Paris St-Germain (PSG) and Liverpool needed to be separated by penalties but they will strike a deeper chord with Ousmane Dembélé, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Nuno Mendes.

- Dhiman Sarkar

KOLKATA: Redemption is doubly satisfying when you know how football can trick you.

Having shackled Mo Salah in Paris, Mendes had to live with not being able to track Harvey Elliott for Liverpool's smash-and-grab last week. Mendes reined in Salah again; sticking out a leg to deny him early, shielding the ball to win a foul and a headed clearance away from the Egyptian in 90+4, being the highlights. And the left-back started the move for the 1-0 win on Tuesday.

In Paris, Donnarumma was not needed for most of the match but couldn't help PSG when they did. Adjudged best in Euro 2020, Donnarumma's list of Champions League howlers for PSG includes goals against Real Madrid, Barcelona and Arsenal. The French media once called him a thug and fans blamed him for the first-leg loss to Barcelona last term.

At Anfield, Donnarumma was the hero who stretched this round of 16 tie to the tie-breaker. There, the big PSG goalie denied Darwin Nunez by going to his left and getting both hands and diving in the opposite direction to thwart Curtis Jones. As he stopped Jones's shot, Dembélé was caught by television cameras jumping in joy.