Liverpool set for ‘toxic’ European night at Anfield after PSG thumping

Arne Slot made two big selection calls; both made with the view to staying in the tie ahead of the second leg at Anfield.

Mohamed Salah was dropped to the bench after a Manchester City display to dampen hopes that clarity over his future might lead to an uptick in form and for perfectly reasonable fear that Paris Saint-Germain would rip Liverpool apart down the Reds’ right side with him on the pitch, as they did even without him.

And Liverpool played with a back three for the first time in a Champions League or Premier League game since Brighton away in December 2017, when Georginio Wijnaldum, Emre Can and Dejan Lovren lined up as their three centre-backs amid an injury crisis.

Amid reports claiming FSG are ‘prepared to sack Slot’ amid ‘fears’ that the atmosphere among Liverpool fans is becoming “toxic”, he had to do something to avoid a battering this PSG side could dole out to anyone, let alone a Reds side as low on confidence as this one.

It looked like it could be a very long night when Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate dived into challenges on halfway in the 11th minute to allow Desire Doue to race clear before his deflected shot looped over Giorgi Mamardashvili to give PSG the lead.

What followed was complete dominance from PSG as Liverpool failed to register a shot in the first half of a game for the first time since April 2021.

It was posited by Darren Fletcher on commentary that Liverpool had “kept them at arm’s length” but Mamardashvili was forced into decent saves to deny Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Doue, and while Liverpool continued to ignore second runners, as they did against Manchester City, PSG looked perfectly comfortable in waiting for the chances to arrive. They duly did.

It was no surprise that the second goal, like the first, came down PSG’s left. We lost count of the number of times that one pass over Jeremie Frimpong’s head saw Doue, Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembele or Nuno Mendes get in behind the Liverpool wing-back, frequently without Konate in the picture as all Liverpool players in the back five were guilty of being drawn out of position by the absurd and brilliant fluidity of the PSG forwards. “They run all over the place,” said an exasperated Van Dijk after the game.

READ MORE: Slot drops Salah for PSG to prevent ‘nasty’ backlash and preserve Liverpool ‘legacy’

In those instances it’s imperative that runners from deep are tracked by midfielders, and it was Ryan Gravenberch who watched Kvaratskhelia before failing to get back as the Georgian showed stunning composure to dribble into and then across the Liverpool box before passing the ball into the corner.

It came at a point when the “who’s the happier manager” discussion was being held in earnest on commentary; even before the lead was doubled the only possible answer was Luis Enrique.

Slot and Liverpool fans may well have bitten hands off to welcome PSG to Anfield at 1-0 down had they not been watching their team getting entirely outclassed by a laughably superior football team.

Liverpool had 26 per cent possession. Chelsea had 42 per cent at the Parc des Princes less than a month ago. PSG had an xG of 2.2 here and scored twice. Against Chelsea they scored five from an xG of 0.87.

A more clinical performance from the home side and an unusually wasteful Dembele in particular would have seen Liverpool demolished; the Ligue 1 giants are unlikely to be as profligate in the second leg, even at Anfield.

“We know how much of a difference Anfield can make,” Slot said after the game having admitted – as he did last year – that his side were “lucky” to not have lost by more here.

“The second leg at Anfield was completely different,” he recalled, but Liverpool were cruising to the title at that stage of the campaign, not fighting for Champions League qualification as they are now.

Steve McManaman says “they will have to do something really special” to turn the tie on its head and at least as concerning as the ease with which PSG ripped Liverpool apart in the second half was Slot claiming after the game that he wasn’t disappointed by his side producing nothing in the final third. “There wasn’t anything to create,” he explained.

Those fabled Special European Nights at Anfield have relied on special Liverpool teams. This side is as far away from one of those as we’ve seen for over a decade.

And while this wasn’t the battering on paper to ensure Slot’s sacking at the end of the season, it was as humbling a clash as they come and anything but the most dramatic of sea changes over the next week will force FSG’s hand amid a toxic Anfield atmosphere.