Slot’s tactical masterstroke decisive against better team

Écraser et attraper, as those at the Parc des Princes might say.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

What else can you say, after a victory that defied a lot of logic – but not all logic? Liverpool fc got away with one, and they have to now think this stunning 1-0 away to Paris Saint-Germain gets them halfway into the quarter-final. A young Paris SaintGermain will now only feel regret, after what must have been one of the great unfulfilled Champions League performances. It should have been one of the great performances, full-stop. That might instead be said of Alisson Becker, who did so much more than set the stage for impact substitute Harvey Elliott’s 87thminute winner, or keep Liverpool in the game.

He kept them from getting hammered. "If we got a draw, we would have been lucky," Arne Slot acknowledged. Luis Enrique lamented how "football is often a game of injustices". "We were very superior", he emphasised. If Liverpool were hugely unfortunate to have to face Paris Saint-Germain having finished first in the group stage, there was instant karma. They were just as fortunate not to be out of the tie by the half-hour mark.

PSG were worth so much more than this 0-1, and looked far greater value than the expensive and indulged side that have characterised this Qatari sportswashing project in the past. It was striking how their attack made a recently revitalised Liverpool look so utterly pedestrian. The final scoreline doesn’t change that. You could see why Arne Slot already had designs on changing his entire forward line in the summer. The Premier League’s top scorers – by a massive 13 goals – couldn’t match PSG’s fire. At least for sparkle and a sense of energy.

But not for goals.