PSG take control of Champions League tie with comfortable 2-0 win over toothless Liverpool
Paris Saint-Germain look like a side who have figured Liverpool out. Luis Enrique's men strolled to a 2-0 win at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night, with Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia delivering the blows that left the opponent staring at a serious problem ahead of next week's return leg at Anfield.
Arne Slot arrived in Paris with his team on a poor run and set up with a back five, hoping to absorb pressure and hit on the break. It never worked. Liverpool failed to register a shot on target across the 90 minutes and rarely looked like dragging themselves into the tie.
Doue strikes early, Kvaratskhelia makes it two
The opener arrived in the 11th minute. Doue's effort took a deflection, looped awkwardly over Giorgi Mamardashvili and dropped under the crossbar. It was the kind of goal Liverpool have conceded too often this season, a half-chance that punished a team already short on confidence.
Kvaratskhelia added the second in the 65th minute, his fourth goal in four straight Champions League games. The Georgian had tormented the Liverpool back line all night, cutting inside off the left and finding space that the visitors never managed to shut down.
Liverpool barely threaten
Mohamed Salah started on the bench, a call that raised eyebrows before kick off and looked worse once the game started. Slot needed goals, or at least a sign of life in the final third, and got neither. PSG had two penalty appeals waved away and missed several chances that could have made the tie all but dead.
The scoreline is survivable on paper. The performance is a different conversation. Liverpool now need to score at least twice at Anfield against a PSG side who know exactly what a winning performance on English soil looks like. Slot will have to find a way to give his forwards some service, because Wednesday's setup gave them nothing.
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