Paris Saint-Germain's Bradley Barcola rues a missed shot at goal during his side's narrow 1-0 loss to Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in Paris on Wednesday. AFP
PARIS — Liverpool boss Arne Slot admitted his team had been extremely fortunate in its 1-0 win away to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of its Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday, as he heaped praise on goal-scoring hero Harvey Elliott.
"If we had a draw over here, we would have already been the lucky one. That is clear for everyone," Slot admitted, after his side withstood a pummeling from the host in Paris.
PSG dominated the first leg of the heavyweight last-16 tie, but Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker was in inspired form, and, thanks to substitute Elliott's 87th minute strike, the visitor snatched an unlikely victory to take back to Anfield for the return leg.
"They were the much better team today, especially in the first half," Slot said of PSG, which had a Khvicha Kvaratskhelia goal disallowed for a tight offside in the 20th minute, and had 28 attempts in total.
"They had three or four open chances in the first half, and it was almost a miracle that it was 0-0 then.
"But, we were already in the game three, four or five times, I felt like we could hurt them in transitions, but we didn't, but we waited until the last moment, and then we hurt them."
Alisson was at his defiant best, making nine saves overall.
"Alisson made a lot of big saves," Slot said. "PSG was by far the better team than us in possession. So much pace, such a high work rate and so much quality in midfield."
Elliott, 21, was sent on for Mohamed Salah late in the game after the Egyptian had failed to make any impact, and scored with his first touch after being set up by Darwin Nunez.
"It was a big moment for him. I can understand that he is sometimes frustrated about the playing time he gets," Slot said of Elliott, who has now scored in three straight Champions League games.
"He has to do it with limited playing time, but he just keeps on going. I have to give him a big compliment for that.
"It wasn't only Harvey, but also the one who assisted him, Nunez, who came off the back of a difficult couple of games, but was absolutely there again tonight, because, from the moment he came on, we were more of a threat than before."
'Unfair' for PSG
Before Elliott's remarkable strike, Liverpool looked set to finish a game without scoring for just the fourth time all season, after it was pushed back by its opponent all evening.
"We were not under par, it was purely the quality of Paris Saint-Germain and the way they have played this whole season," the Liverpool coach added.
"Luis Enrique has built an incredible team here. It was an unbelievable challenge for us to get away with a result and we know it will be a hard one in a week."
Slot's opposite number admitted the result was a sore one to take, as PSG's run of 10 straight wins in all competitions was brought to a halt.
"We were far superior to Liverpool in terms of how we played, and chances created," Enrique said.
"Against the best team in their league and in Europe, we put in a complete performance, defended well, took risks, and clearly deserved another result, but that is football.
"It is often unfair, and we just have to accept it."
Asked if he still believed his team could reach the quarterfinals going into next Tuesday's return leg, he added: "Without any doubt. We are a team with absolutely nothing to lose.
"Today, we deserved much more. Their best player was the goalkeeper, which indicates how the game went."
Wasted chances galore hampered PSG during the group stage, where it lost to Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich, scoring just one goal in those three games.
"We had a lot of chances, just like at the start of the season," PSG midfielder Vitinha said.
"Now we have to show our true personality and our strength. This time, we will score and win, I am sure."
AFP
