Paris Saint-Germain must overturn a 1-0 deficit against Liverpool, but their first leg performance suggests the French giants still have a chance.
Arne Slot called them the “most complete” team Liverpool have faced this season. Alisson Becker described his display against them last week as “the performance of his life.” Liverpool might have escaped France with a 1-0 advantage in their Champions League last 16 tie, but Paris Saint-Germain left quite the impression.
By almost every metric, PSG dominated the first leg. They had 70% of possession. Liverpool faced 27 shots while mustering just two themselves. At full time, PSG’s Expected Goals (xG) stood at 1.78 with Liverpool’s just 0.27. Football matches aren’t decided on underlying statistics, but Harvey Elliott’s winner was a bolt from the blue (or red).
No two players had their foot on the throat of the Premier League leaders more firmly than João Neves and Vitinha. They controlled the game in the centre of the pitch, both in and out of possession, and are likely to do the same again at Anfield on Tuesday night. Neves and Vitinha might be the best midfield pairing in Europe right now.
Nobody on the pitch at the Parc des Princes last week completed more passes than Vitinha. Not only this, the Portuguese international won six ground duels and completed four dribbles. He was everywhere, keeping PSG’s tempo high in possession and quickly counter-pressing out of it. Liverpool struggled to make any sort of impression on him.
Neves added to the control PSG had, also making runs into the final third when space opened up. While Liverpool failed to find any sort of foothold on the ball, the Ligue 1 champions played the majority of the game in the opposition half. It was freakish that none of their goal-scoring chances ended up in the back of the net.
PSG spent big to sign Neves from Benfica for €60m last summer, winning the race to land the young midfielder when the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United had also been linked. He was the final piece of the midfield puzzle for Luis Enrique who needed his own Rodri to make PSG tick. Neves has so far lived up to his billing.
This is the sort of team Luis Enrique envisaged when he first took over at the Parc des Princes two summers ago. His first season in charge was a transitional one as PSG started to move on from a Galacticos-esque era that saw them fail to balance an attack that featured Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar.
In 2025, though, PSG have played prime Lucho-ball. They control games through possession. They counter-press. They get players forward in quick transition moments. They play with energy in the wide areas and are able to replicate their approach against the strongest opponents, as last week’s meeting with Liverpool proved.
“Even though we’re trailing from the first leg we will be playing our own game from the outset,” said Luis Enrique ahead of the second leg. “Regardless of the result [in Paris] we wouldn’t do anything different. I’m not going to give away who we are going to play or how we are going to play but over the course of two games we will see two of the best teams in Europe, two contenders for the final and whoever goes through will go through to the final.”
Luis Enrique’s prediction might well come true. PSG are good enough to overturn a 1-0 deficit at Anfield on Tuesday and they’re good enough to make this season’s Champions League final. If the French giants were to knock out Liverpool, there would be no reason to fear anyone else in what is a relatively weak field.
The goalscoring form of Bradley Barcola, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembélé is primarily the thing that has made PSG genuine Champions League challengers in the eyes of so many. Before being held by Liverpool last week, the French giants had netted 20 goals in their previous four games. Dembélé had notched 18 in just 13 outings since the turn of the year.
Without that cutting edge, PSG will limply exit this season’s Champions League at Anfield on Tuesday night regardless of what Liverpool are able to muster. The visitors must do a better job of converting control and possession into goals. They need Dembélé and co. of the past two months and not the frontline that drew a blank in the first leg.
In Neves and Vitinha, though, PSG have a platform in almost every match they play. The pair are irrepressible and will relish the opportunity to put right the injustice of the first leg against Liverpool at Anfield. The best midfield pairing in Europe could be deciding factor in this Champions League tie.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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