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Without the superstars, Luis Enrique has achieved the impossible at PSG
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- Without the superstars, Luis Enrique has achieved the impossible at PSG
Dembele celebrates his winning goal at Anfield (AP)
It was not Luis Enrique 's greatest remontada. But then, how could it be? Not after he once conjured a 6-1 win to overturn a Champions League deficit. That involved Paris Saint-Germain , too. But, eight years on from a seminal night for Barcelona came a superb one for his victims then.
The round of 16 can be the round of PSG; or the round they depart the Champions League, anyway. Not this time.
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On 39 previous occasions, Liverpool had won the away leg of a European tie before a rematch at Anfield. On all 39 they had gone through. Not at the 40th time of asking, however. PSG won at Anfield ; over 90 and then 120 minutes, over seven penalties .
They eliminated the side who had topped the Champions League group, who had been cast as the competition's favourites. The club's reputation as bottlers may be outdated: much of the stereotype is, with the way Enrique has rebranded a star vehicle. Even the manager runs, bounding on the pitch in abandonment, hugging anyone and everyone, after Desire Doue converted the winning spot kick.
Enrique runs onto the pitch to celebrate PSG's victor (Getty Images)
They were deserved winners. Over two legs, PSG had 48 shots, an expected goals total comfortably over four – and actually higher at Anfield than the Parc des Princes – but only managed to overcome Alisson Becker from 12 yards. And courtesy of Ousmane Dembele , after 12 minutes.
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The forward who took a fast bowler's run-up to convert his spot kick in the shootout had the travelling Parisians singing. They were all night. If New Trafford may be visible from the outskirts of Liverpool, the chances are Anfield was audible from the suburbs of Manchester. Anfield was rocking, the Merseybeat with a Gallic tinge that came from more than just the raucous Parisians. What's the French for Allez Allez Allez?
Mohamed Salah began seemingly affronted by his own anonymity in Paris. Denied a goal by Nuno Mendes' left knee, he proceeded to skip past the left-back. There is a sense that, overlooked before, Liverpool's Egyptian king has his eyes on a European crown. What's the French for Ballon d'Or?
Dembele may yet discover. He exerted the impact that may have been expected of Salah. He was talismanic and terrific, scoring his 15th goal in 11 games when he was false nine and penalty-box poacher in the same move. Unbeatable last week, Alisson was wrongfooted by Ibrahima Konate before Dembele tapped the ball over the line
Ousmane Dembele, centre left, taps in the only goal (PA Wire)
That initial movement was key. When Dembele dropped deeper, Liverpool's lack of a natural holding midfielder was exposed. His movement felt familiar at Anfield. It was reminiscent of Roberto Firmino .
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There are other comparisons. Kylian Mbappe 's move to Real Madrid created a vacancy. His old friend has filled it. His talent did not used to be reflected in the numbers. He had a reputation as a player who flattered to deceive. No longer. Dembele has scored more goals already this season than in the last five combined. Potential is belatedly being realised. Eight years after Barcelona paid €105m for him, he looks a €105m player.
And he is the face of a revamp. PSG's definitive front three were their Galacticos, because they summed up the ethos of the club. Now a new trio have a different approach.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has the look of a Left Bank intellectual who is likelier to wear a beret than a football shirt and the running power of a middle-distance athlete. He is a compellingly unique presence, seemingly too tall for his style of play. He is a competitor, too, sliding in to make challenges in the left-back spot like Wayne Rooney at his peak.
(AP)
Bradley Barcola darted beyond Andy Robertson . The Scot's 31st birthday evening began with a chasing from a man almost a decade his junior. Yet Robertson is scarcely the type to give up. He outlasted Barcola. The longer the game lasted, the stronger Robertson became. In vain, ultimately, but heroically.
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Robertson began under siege, able to testify to the boldness of PSG. Perhaps they had no other way, trailing after the first leg. Perhaps they know no other way. This is not a side designed to be slow and sedate. They have something of the tempo of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool; more of it, at times, than Arne Slot's Liverpool do. But Slot has a willingness to play the long game. PSG were the superior side in the first half, Liverpool the better in the second. By extra time, they had exhausted each other.
But there is a glory in sweat, even if Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi never discovered it. Shorn of the superstars, Enrique may have achieved the impossible and made PSG likeable; on the pitch, anyway. Perhaps this team should represent another club, though their price tags would preclude most others from buying them.
Young, quick and hungry, they have the sort of attitude more associated with recent Borussia Dortmund teams. Enrique had said the winner of this tie would reach the final and PSG ran with the air of a team with their eye on the prize. And they may get one: a couple of days in Bruges or, more likely, Birmingham next month. And what more could any Parisian dream of?
