Wasteful finishing haunts PSG again in Champions League loss to Liverpool

PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain's wasteful finishing came back to haunt the French team on Wednesday in a 1-0 loss to Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.

Harvey Elliott's late goal punished PSG at Parc des Princes. It was only Liverpool's second attempt on target compared to a whopping 28 for PSG.

“We were better in the game, the number of chances we had,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said. “Probably today we deserved a lot more. Their goalkeeper was their best player today, which says a lot.”

Wasted chances galore hampered PSG during the group stage — where it lost to Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich, scoring just one goal in those three games.

“We had a lot of chances, just like at the start of the season," PSG midfielder Vitinha said. “Now we have to show our true personality and our strength. This time we will score and win I am sure."

Luis Enrique's side had turned the corner in fine style heading into this game, with 40 goals scored in 10 straight wins.

PSG had 12 attempts on goal in the first half alone where Liverpool could not cope with PSG's pace, movement and constant positional switches on a night where Liverpool’s 30-goal top scorer Mohamed Salah was kept quiet.

“If we had got a draw we would be the lucky ones, I think that’s clear today,” Liverpool coach Arne Slot said. “In the first half it was almost a miracle that it was 0-0. In the second half they still had a lot of shots on target.”

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson was at his defiant best, however, making nine saves overall.

“Alisson made a lot of big saves,” Slot said. “PSG was by far the better team than us in ball possession. So much pace, so much workrate, so much quality in midfield.”

The imposing Alisson twice denied Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and kept out attempts from Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé. There were also bad misses from Barcola and midfielder João Neves, who both shot over from good positions.

Kvaratskhelia thought he had scored with a brilliant curling shot from the right of the penalty area in the 20th minute but the Georgia star's effort was ruled out for a razor-thin offside following a video review.

VAR went in Liverpool's favor a second time minutes later, when referee Davide Massa checked for a red card check to see whether Ibrahima Konaté had pushed Barcola in the back. But no foul was given.

Kvaratskhelia went close with a free kick early in the second half and had another low shot saved.

Former England captain David Beckham was among the crowd at Parc des Princes. He played half a season for PSG after joining in 2013 during the start of the club’s Galactico era and then retired.

It was turning into a night of frustration for PSG. A corner almost went in, until Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai stuck a leg out on the line.

With the clock ticking, Alisson somehow got both hands at full stretch to substitute Désiré Doué's bending shot from 20 meters.

Luis Enrique said before the game that Liverpool were Europe's counterattack specialists and he was proved right.

The return leg is next Tuesday at Anfield and the winner faces either Aston Villa or Club Brugge in the quarterfinals.

“We need to create chances and make sure our fans are proud of us,” Luis Enrique said.

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