Paul Fennessy

IT IS RARE for Liverpool to come away from a big European tie considering a 2-0 defeat to be a positive result, but under the circumstances, it was surely the case last night against PSG.

Stats can be deceptive, but in this instance, they told a story.

At half-time, the visitors had zero shots on goal and a 0 xG — the first time that had happened in any competition since they played Real Madrid in April 2021.

Under manager Arne Slot, the Reds invariably try to play progressive football, but the game at Parc des Princes was a stark anomaly.

The visitors’ intentions were clear from the outset — defensive low blocks and long throws were commonplace. The Parisiens ended the game with 74% possession.

Liverpool made the unusual decision to play a 3-5-2 formation — they have nearly always played with four across the back in recent times.

Mo Salah was dropped and remained on the bench throughout the contest.

Despite the outcome, it looked like a wise decision.

In his nine campaigns at Anfield, the Egyptian has established himself as an all-time Premier League great, but he has looked past his best this season, contributing only five goals from 22 top-flight appearances.

Of equal significance, he is not a player renowned for tracking back. PSG have two of the best wingers in the world, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Désiré Doué, coupled with two of the most formidable attacking full-backs, Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi.

Consequently, it seems hard to justify starting a player like Salah, who would have offered little protection to the Liverpool full-back/wing-back behind him.

Not that the controversial call dramatically altered the dynamic of the contest, with PSG dominant regardless.

According to TNT Sports, after 75 minutes, they had completed 533 of 569 attempted passes.

Their level is so impressive that it is difficult to imagine Liverpool or any other Champions League team stopping them this year.

The reigning Ligue 1 champions are not perfect, individually, you can think of other teams left in the competition with better goalkeepers, defences and central strikers, but as a collective, they are unparalleled.

And yet in the round of 16 last year, it took penalties to separate the sides that looked miles apart on Wednesday night.

PSG showed similar dominance at times in their 2025 encounter, but it was hard to escape the feeling that, since then, Luis Enrique’s men have accelerated towards greatness while the Reds have gone backwards.

After being serial underachievers in Europe for so long, the Ligue 1 outfit have finally begun to illustrate how powerful a combination endless millions and smart decision-making behind the scenes can be.

Liverpool have also spent lavishly but less intelligently.

The big difference is PSG are a young team getting better.

Many of Liverpool’s best players have either regressed (Salah, Van Dijk, Robertson), are injured (Alisson, Isak) or left (Alexander-Arnold, Luis Díaz). There is also the Diogo Jota tragedy to consider — the late Portuguese footballer started both legs against PSG last year, and this awful loss is bound to have a lingering impact on the squad.

But while Liverpool underperformed in the way they have been for much of this season, it should not be underestimated just how good PSG were on the night.

The scoreline certainly flattered Slot’s side, who barely threatened, failing to register a shot on target all night and finishing with an xG of 0.18.

PSG, meanwhile, were unlucky not to win at least one penalty. Ousmane Dembélé, for all his selfless running and intricate build-up play and despite being the reigning Ballon d’Or holder, provided a reminder that he is hardly a Harry Kane or Erling Haaland elite-level finisher, wasting good chances on more than one occasion.

The one positive for Liverpool was how well they defended for most of the contest, having ceded so much possession and territory. That said, their players were too slow closing down Doué for the opening goal, while Giorgi Mamardashvili was caught badly off his line. And for the second, Ryan Gravenberch will rue a lack of sharpness, allowing Kvaratskhelia to run in behind him too easily.

Yet it is hard to be overly critical of Slot’s approach. A more expansive strategy could easily have led to a thrashing — PSG beat Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate in the last round and delivered an even more comprehensive 10-0 defeat of Brest in the knockout phase last year.

The best team in Europe don’t always win the Champions League. The Liverpool side that triumphed in 2005 finished fifth in the Premier League, while the Chelsea team that went all the way in 2012 came sixth.

Yet of the 33 that have prevailed since the modern Champions League format began, there are a handful of standouts.

The ’94 Milan side, Ajax in ’95, the Real Madrid of the late ’90s and early ’00s, Pep Guardiola’s 2011 Barcelona and his treble-winning 2023 Man City team are among those that surely belong in this category.

Particularly if they can retain their title this year, PSG may well be thought of in similar esteem to these great victors.

Of course, their abundance of resources and the support of a nation-state complicates the discourse.

But from an aesthetic standpoint, they are a joy to watch.

And that factor feels important, particularly in a season where the Premier League, the richest in the world, has been dominated by set pieces and long, dreary passages where the ball is out of play — even Liverpool, a team that usually rejects this philosophy, adhered to it on Wednesday night in a desperate attempt to rescue their flailing campaign.

PSG are an antidote to all of that, and perhaps England’s elite will eventually sit up and take notice of what makes them simultaneously special and successful, albeit in a far less competitive domestic league.