Liverpool travelled to Paris knowing that a win would secure
their qualification from a very tough Champions League group. An admittedly
formidable opponent stood in their way, but it might have been expected that
Klopp’s men could have mustered more than one shot on target in their pursuit
of the win that would be so vital. As it was, even that one shot came from the
penalty spot. The first half in particular was lacklustre beyond belief; the
spot kick at the death gave the visitors a lifeline that was frankly
undeserved. There were some signs of improvement in the second period, but the
penetration from midfield remained all but non-existent and Liverpool could not
force the breakthrough.
There was a quiet pre-match optimism amongst the away fans.
PSG are on a remarkable run, but it is not as if they have faced hugely stern
challenge in Ligue 1; Liverpool deservedly won the reverse fixture, and knew
they were at least in with a realistic chance of getting a result at the Parc
des Princes. However, some of this hope was dented before a ball had been
kicked – the team sheet revealed a midfield three of Jordan Henderson, James
Milner and Gini Wjjnaldum. None of these players are bad: each of them has put
in dominant performances in the past that can be brought to mind. Wijnaldum in
particular was the heartbeat of the side that overcame Manchester City in last
season’s Champions League. However, as a midfield unit, the three of them
simply do not work. There is a big question mark over where the creativity will
come from, and yet nor is there an out-and-out defensive presence in the mix.
Each can keep things ticking over nicely, but with nobody to play the killer
ball the entire front three might as well be taken out of the game.
This is essentially how it panned out. For the first
forty-five minutes, PSG walked through Liverpool’s midfield as though it were
not there: all it took was a string of two or three quick passes before Neymar
and Mbappe were bearing down on the defence. This was admittedly not helped by
a referee undoubtedly influenced by the home crowd – Liverpool could hardly
make a tackle without going in the book – but it would be wrong to blame the
officials entirely. Klopp must shoulder a proportion of the criticism; he chose
to go with what might generously be called an ‘industrious’ midfield, but all
of this industry provided essentially no protection to the back four. If the
defence were to be left all but unprotected, the manager may as well have
utilised his more creative forces in the shape of Shaqiri and Keita from the
outset. Milner was probably the best of a bad bunch, and he coolly converted
his penalty when called upon at the end of the half, but frankly none of them
played at all well. The match was won and lost in the midfield battle, which in
reality was more of a massacre than a fight – even if Verratti had got the red
card which his horror-challenge warranted it is doubtful that Liverpool would
have claimed the ascendency.
It cannot even be said that the problems were limited to the
midfield. Both of PSG’s goals can be traced back to Virgil van Dijk – he can be
afforded somewhat more slack given that he has been a colossus all season, but
he looked as though he was playing with a hangover during arguably Liverpool’s
biggest game of the campaign. The attempted clearance prior to Bernat’s opener
was unacceptable at any level; he half-heartedly floated a foot at the ball,
which looped up into an even more dangerous position than where it started. His
role in Neymar’s goal was just as bad; the whole defence had been drawn out of
position as a result of Gomez venturing forwards, but the Dutch centre-back was
caught in two minds as to whether to go to the ball or stay with his man and ended
up taking himself out of the game altogether. Alisson nearly bailed him out
with a remarkable save, one of many that he made on the night, but his
compatriot was on hand to tuck home the rebound.
The performance by Alisson was really the only significant
positive. He simply had no right to make some of the saves he pulled off, most
notably a remarkable reaction stop from a corner – it easy to see why Claudio
Taffarel has marked him out as a potential world-beater. On another day, his
immense showing would have opened the door for the front three to dig out an
undeserved result; the lack of any kind of penetration from midfield did not
make their lives easy, but such is their quality that more could reasonably
have been expected of them. Mane was at least putting in the graft, and he was
rewarded by winning the penalty, but the other two were very much off the boil.
Firmino produced a few sharp turns here and there, but his passing was frankly
awful in places; Liverpool fans could only watch on, frustrated, as some of
their few promising positions were squandered with absurd cheapness. Salah was
largely anonymous, and on the one occasion where he managed his trademark cut inside
he dragged his shot wide at the near post. That proved to be largely indicative
of the evening: chances were few and far between, and when they came they were
wasted.
Klopp and his players can take some comfort in the fact that
qualification remains in their hands. The permutations regarding the final game
against Napoli are a little complex, but essentially either a 1-0 win or any
victory by two goals or more will see Liverpool through to the knockout rounds.
This is a tough ask, and Ancelotti is a shrewd operator when it comes to
protecting an advantage – Istanbul of course stands out as a stark exception,
and Anfield will be looking to draw on some of that spirit to will the team on
against the Italian side. Liverpool’s home and away form stand in marked
contrast so far this campaign: two wins out of two at Anfield, three straight
losses on the road in Europe. Klopp has called upon the Kop to make a
difference once again. Ultimately, despite the uninspiring Champions League
performances so far, this is a side that deserves to be in the last 16.
Hopefully the players and manager take a pragmatic approach to this loss, learn
from it, and use it to ensure qualification on Matchday 6.
- Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013
A reminder that my weekly pieces can be found over at Colossus Bets: https://blog.colossusbets.com/7-points-in-7-days-eibar-to-clear/
