Last night, Atletico Madrid dumped Liverpool out of the Champions League after an extraordinary period of extra-time at Anfield, Neymar finally rose to the occasion and guided PSG by Dortmund in an empty stadium.
There are something we must know from last UCL night…
Neymar, a standout performer
The catalyst for PSG scoring twice in the first half was undoubtedly Neymar, as the Brazilian playmaker was popping up all over the field in dangerous positions and pulling all the strings. It was Neymar who opened the scoring just in the 28th minute with an uncharacteristic diving header.
This goal was his 38th involvement in a goal in 28 home Champions League appearances (scoring 26 and assisting 12) across his time with Barcelona and PSG.
What was even more creditable was the work he put in off the ball, harrying and hounding Hakimi throughout and earning the applause of the PSG bench for the challenges he put in over the 90 minutes.
Neymar had tried to leave Paris in the summer. He wanted to go back to Barcelona, to the comfort of Leo Messi. So distressing had his time in Paris been that he was ready to accept failure just to be happy again. But fate conspired to keep him in Paris, and he knuckled down.
Now here he was, on the very stage he tried to run away from. And he was flying. Tonight Neymar was leading his side on the hunt. From the first whilst he was scorching forward at Dortmund, forcing them to make crunching challenges on him.
Immediately you could almost smell Dortmund’s fear, and caution permeated their game.
The second best player in the world should guide his side into the Champions League quarter-finals scoring two of their three goals, right? Neymar has finally brought PSG up to his level, the elite level. Can they go further? With Neymar at the wheel and Kylian Mbappé riding shotgun, would you bet against them?
Wonderkid Haaland got mocked
Erling Haaland was the target of Paris Saint-Germain’s celebrations after the Ligue 1 side dumped Borussia Dortmund out of the Champions League.
Haaland scored both goals in Dortmund’s 2-1 first-leg victory at Signal Iduna Park, celebrating by sitting on the pitch and pretending to meditate.
But the celebration was used against Haaland by PSG’s players following the midweek showdown in the French capital.
With Neymar having already copied Haaland’s celebration after scoring PSG’s opener, Thomas Tuchel’s squad all replicated the meditating pose following the final whistle.
The victory sends PSG into the final eight for the first time in four years, with the Ligue 1 champions joining RB Leipzig, Atalanta and Atletico Madrid in the quarters.
Inspired performance from Oblak
Despite having an almost impenetrable defence in front of him, Jan Oblak still merits mention as arguably the best goalkeeper in the world, with the Slovak always on hand to make key saves which prove invaluable for his side given their goal-shy nature.
He was not called into action in the first leg against Liverpool – who failed to register a single shot on target but it was a much different story this time around, with the hosts fashioning chance after chance which brought out the best in the 27-year-old.
The Merseysiders carved open the Atleti defence on several occasions but they found an immovable obstacle in the person of Oblak who pulled off spectacular saves to deny Chamberlain, Alexander-Arnold, Mane, Firmino, Wjnaldum and virtually every other player in the Liverpool squad.
This ran in contrast with Adrian’s shocking display at the other end and Oblak’s 12 saves on the night were enough to give his side victory in Merseyside.
There’s a popular saying that great goalkeepers win titles and with Jan Oblak in this form, Atletico Madrid would fancy their chances of coming up against anyone.
Adrian’s gaffe
Liverpool were rocked by the news that first-choice goalkeeper Alisson was ruled out of this tie with a calf injury and in his place, summer signing Adrian mounted the sticks against Los Colchoneros.
The former West Ham man was relatively untested for much of the game due to Liverpool’s overt dominance but he did well to keep out an effort from Angel Correa in the second half.
With just seven minutes gone in extra-time, Adrian received a totally harmless backpass from Trent-Alexader Arnold but in shocking fashion, he kicked the ball straight to Joao Felix who laid it on for Marcos Llorente to give Atletico a precious away goal.
This was reminiscent of scenes from the not-too-distant past for Liverpool fans which Alisson’s arrival has helped erase and with a scarcely deserved away goal, the visitors upped the ante and went on to get the victory after yet another piece of questionable goalkeeping from Adrian.
Without Adrian’s error, Liverpool would have held a comfortable 2-0 advantage and with Atletico forced to come out in search of an away goal, this would have left spaces behind to further exploit but a moment of madness from their backup goalkeeper put paid to all their efforts on the night.
Liverpool need one more superstar forward
It was a strange evening for Liverpool’s fearsome front three. As a unit, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah threatened to make things happened but couldn’t quite find the breakthrough until Firmino’s goal in extra-time.
While it might seem foolish to find faults in the make-up of such a successful squad, Liverpool’s depth in the forwards department has to be questioned on nights like this. Indeed, there is no debate that adding another forward of the calibre of Salah, Mane and Firmino into the mix would only make Liverpool better.
All three were responsible for moments of class and frustrating mistakes in possession. This can happen to the best of attackers when tasked with breaking down a deep-lying defence. But it could be argued that Klopp would have hooked one of them midway through the second half if he had a world-class alternative on the bench.
It will be an interesting summer. A move for RB Leipzgi’s Timo Werner has been mooted. And you have to wonder: if Premier League clubs do battle over Paulo Dybala’s signature again, will Liverpool enter the fray?
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