‘English Heist’ read the headline on the front page of L’Equipe on Thursday morning and not even the most deluded Liverpool fan could argue with it.
Paris Saint-Germain were good value for a two or three-goal win in the Champions League last-16 first leg but ended up with nothing after Harvey Elliott struck with his first touch after coming on as a substitute.
Luis Enrique described his side’s defeat as ‘unfair’ and claimed that football is ‘often a game of injustice’. The Spanish coach’s feeling was no doubt echoed by his troops as well as in several quarters of the French media.
Amazement and incredulity reigned among British publications, while the tone on the continent was more one of shock. That mood was best shown in L’Equipe.
The publication known for its unreasonably harsh player ratings got it right in its assessment of the stars at the Parc des Princes. Seven Liverpool star were slammed, including Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson who were both handed a score of 3/10.
Brazilian stopper AlissonBecker was the hero for the Reds, with a string of superb saves to deny PSG throughout the night. He was recognised as the player of the match by the outlet and given a 9/10.
Liverpool rode their luck to claim a 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes
The French champions dominated on the night before the Reds snatched a winner late on
French outlet L’Equipe ran with the headline the ‘English Heist’ on their front page on Thursday
‘PSG had also not yet come up against a goalkeeper as exceptional as Alisson in 2025,’ the report read. ‘Ten saves in all, that’s colossal statistically speaking.
‘What is even more surprising is the reality of these judgments: for a good half of them, they were exceptional. With a normal goalkeeper, Luis Enrique’s team would certainly have won by several goals.’
RMC Sport evoked the death of Jesus Christ in their assessment of Elliott’s late winner, such was the gravity of the finish into the corner of Gigi Donnarumma’s net.
‘Dominating throughout the match without being able to find the breakthrough,’ the outlet wrote. ‘Paris Saint-Germain were crucified in the last minutes. On his first ball, Harvey Elliott scored with a left-footed shot.’
On Alisson, they added: ‘It remains to be seen if the Brazilian goalkeeper will have left his superhero costume in Paris.’
Meanwhile,Foot Mercato declared that it was difficult for a side to perform better against Liverpool and claimed that Enrique’s men ‘crushed’ the Premier League leaders.
‘A clearly frustrating match for the Parisians who had played the perfect match, or almost,’ they wrote. ‘On paper, it was difficult to do better as PSG crushed one of the best teams in Europe. But this defeat at the end of the match has a bitter taste.’
Elsewhere, Le Parisian went as far as to claim that the French champions gave the six-time winners a ‘football lesson’ and remained confident of Enrique’s side progressing not just to the quarter-final but the last four of the competition.
Harvey Elliott came off the bench and scored with his first touch to give the visitors the lead
Alisson Becker was Liverpool’s hero after making nine saves. He was given a 9/10 by L’Equipe
Luis Enrique said the result felt ‘unfair’ and claimed that football is ‘often a game of injustice’
‘Paris more than looked Liverpool straight in the eye,’ they wrote. ‘It gave them a football lesson, asserting themselves as a great of Europe, only brought back to reason and frustration by their lack of realism.
‘No opponent has tormented Arne Slot’s men to this extent in Europe or recently in England.”
‘Paris delivered a first half of a candidate for the last four [semi-finals].’
In total, PSG had 27 shots to Liverpool’s two and three big chances to the Reds’ one. Despite defeat, their performance will breed confidence that they can overturn their deficit when they sides meet next week at Anfield in the second leg.
Portuguese midfielder Vitinha backed the side to do so, insisting that it is time for the youthful squad to show their mettle against one of the European elite.
‘Now is the time to show what a team we are. We’re going to show what a team we are, we’re going to show our character, ‘ he said after the game.
‘We’re going to win there [at Liverpool]. With the game we played, the victory was more than deserved. We had plenty of chances like at the start of the season but we didn’t manage to score.’
As for Liverpool, they continued their remarkable record against European giants since Slot replaced Jurgen Klopp last summer.
Vitinha (left) backed his PSG side to overturn the deficit in the second leg at Anfield next week
The win continued Liverpool’s remarkable record against the top European sides this season
In his first season at the helm, Slot’s Liverpool have played the reigning league champions of England, Germany, Spain and France a combined total of five times and have won every game without conceding a single goal.
They have secured successive 2-0 wins over Manchester City in the Premier League, while they thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 in the league phase of the Champions League back in November.
Just three weeks after beating Leverkusen, Liverpool breezed past Real Madrid 2-0 at Anfield on their way to sealing top spot in the Champions League standings.
Should Liverpool continue their brilliant run against Europe’s best in next Tuesday’s return leg, they will progress to the quarter-finals and stay in the hunt for a Treble.