Cometh the hour, cometh the man: Alisson Ramses Becker!
Liverpool FC leave the Parc des Princes, miraculously, with a 1-0 lead ahead of the return leg at Anfield. Much of the credit goes to a heroic, once-in-a-lifetime performance from goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
Perhaps due to his injury layoff, some people seemed to have forgotten about the Brazilian stopper’s brilliance. Per Opta, the Brazilian goalkeeper made nine saves, the most he’s ever made in a match for Liverpool. The Reds faced 27 shots, the most they had faced (excluding extra time) away to Real Madrid in November 2014. Liverpool suffered in every sense of the word, unable to keep the ball or complete passes as PSG strung attack after attack together.
After the game, the heroes, Alisson and goalscorer Harvey Elliott were interviewed. Asked if it was the best performance of the season for him, Alisson replied:
Yeah, probably of my life I think – so far, hopefully. The manager was telling us how hard it would be to play against PSG, how good they are with the ball and we have to be ready to suffer. When you see the clips from the opponent, you know what is coming, so much quality in their side. But we as well work hard. Yeah, we gave away so many chances but always with a player on the ball, some of them with a one-v-one but the biggest part of the chase is always having someone to make the player who is having the chance think a little bit more. So, it makes my job easier, all the effort the team puts in. At the end, Harvey coming in and scoring the goal, it’s unbelievable and a great story for us. A great night.
Harvey chimed in on what he had seen:
I’ve got no words, to be honest. This guy, he’s unbelievable, the best in the world. Each and every game he shows it, [he] keeps us in so many games. Like tonight, it’s my opportunity to repay this man. Without him, I don’t know where we’d be. Hopefully he can keep [saving] and hopefully we can keep finishing chances. It was a great team performance.
On whether PSG were the best team Liverpool have played this season:
I think it’s a really good team. We still have one more [game] to come. Hopefully we can keep the result for the second game and we can play a better game. We know that we have to improve for the game at home and if we go through we’re going to play other teams that are really tough as well. We have to recognise so much quality in the PSG team with the ball, having possession, creating chances. It was a tough night for us but with a happy ending.
The teams will meet again at Anfield next week. Hopefully, Liverpool won’t need Alisson to pull out another performance like that, but it’s good to know we have the best keeper in the world on our side.