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PARIS: Liverpool snatched a late winner to beat Paris St-Germain away 1-0 in the first leg of their heavyweight Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday, while Bayern Munich took charge with a 3-0 win over German rivals Bayer Leverkusen.
French league leaders PSG dominated at the Parc des Princes but couldn’t make their superiority count and Harvey Elliott struck three minutes from time after replacing Mohamed Salah with Liverpool’s only shot on target.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half but Arne Slot’s side defended resolutely to keep PSG at bay and are in a strong position to advance to the quarter-finals going into next week’s second leg at Anfield.
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker made several crucial saves as PSG had 28 attempts on goal but could not replicate the finishing that had allowed them to score 21 goals in their last five Champions League outings.
“It was probably the performance of my life,” Alisson told TNT Sports.
Alisson parried Joao Neves’ 25-metre strike before denying Ousmane Dembele. The ball went into the path of Bradley Barcola, whose first strike was blocked before his second flew over.
The Brazilian keeper’s firm hand was there again to stop Kvaratskhelia and he made saves left, right and centre early in a one-sided second half.
“Without him, I don’t know where we’d be,” said goalscorer Elliott.
In the second half, Alisson, again, stretched to tip away Desire Doue’s missile 10 minutes from time and he also played a key role in the buildup to the goal.
Slot acknowledged that the away win is more than they deserved.
“To go away with a win over here was probably a bit more than we deserved,” added Slot.
If Liverpool finish the job at home next Tuesday, they could face Aston Villa in the quarter-finals, but PSG coach Luis Enrique said his side will have “nothing to lose”.
“We deserved to win clearly, we created a lot of chances,” said the Spaniard. “Football is unfair many times and you have to accept that.”
KANE BRACE
Meanwhile, Harry Kane scored twice as Bayern closed in on the last eight with a first win over Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen in seven matches.
The England captain headed in Michael Olise’s superb cross to give Bayern the lead at the Allianz Arena.
Jamal Musiala added a second early in the second half when Leverkusen goalkeeper Matej Kovar let an innocuous delivery into the box from Joshua Kimmich slip from his grasp.
The night went from bad to worse for Leverkusen, who had Nordi Mukiele sent off.
Kane rounded off the scoring from the penalty spot following a VAR review after he was impeded by Edmond Tapsoba.
“It was a really big step in the right direction. We’ve struggled against this side over the last couple of years,” Kane told DAZN.
A downbeat Alonso admitted it would take a remarkable turn of events for Leverkusen to overturn the deficit.
“In football we’ve seen big miracles quite often and we almost need one,” he said.
Only downside for Bayern is that they lost goalkeeper Manuel Neuer as he torn a calf muscle after celebrating a goal.
Neuer was taken off in the 58th minute, shortly after Jamal Musiala scored the second goal, with manager Vincent Kompany saying the injury was caused in the goal celebrations.
NARROW BARCA ADVANTAGE
In Lisbon, Barcelona edged past Benfica 1-0 in Lisbon thanks to Raphinha’s second-half strike despite playing most of the game with 10 men.
Teenage defender Pau Cubarsi was sent off midway through the first half for a foul as the last defender, but Barcelona clung on and Raphinha drilled home after 61 minutes to give the five-time European champions a slim advantage.
“I said to the (team) chapeau, I’m very proud,” said Barcelona coach Hansi Flick.
“After the 22nd minute with 10 players it was not easy, and this is a big win.”
Barca goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny put in a brilliant performance as he pulled off a string of brilliant saves to keep Barca in the game.
“Szczesny saved us many times today, he is outstanding,” Barcelona midfielder Pedri told Spanish TV station Movistar Plus.
Szczesny’s brilliant night started 30 seconds after kickoff, when Pavlidis recovered the ball and fed Kerem Akturkoglu inside the box and he fired a low strike that the 34-year-old keeper kept out with a one-handed save.
The Polish keeper ended up making eight saves, five of those in the second half when Benfica piled on the pressure with over 60% of possession and 15 goal attempts.
Szczesny’s magic included a stunning reflex save to deny Fredrik Aursnes from close range early on after the break and an excellent stop to palm away Renato Sanches’s bullet strike from the edge of the box four minutes into added time.
INTER SEIZE CONTROL
Earlier on Thursday, Inter Milan seized control of their tie against Feyenoord as Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez scored in a 2-0 win in Rotterdam.
France striker Thuram hooked in a cross from Nicolo Barella slightly against the run of play late in the first half, with Lautaro Martinez lashing in a second on 50 minutes.
Jakub Moder hit the bar for the hosts but Inter could have made it 3-0 when they were awarded a penalty for a foul on Thuram just after the hour mark.
Feyenoord keeper Timon Wellenreuther guessed Piotr Zielinski’s intentions, however, and saved the Poland midfielder’s low shot.
“We had to suffer a bit tonight but we didn’t have to for long,” said Inter coach Simone Inzaghi.
“We were together when we needed to be. We know the challenges that the second leg will bring, but I am very happy.”
Feyenoord knocked out Inter’s city rivals AC Milan in the play-off round but have since changed coaches, with former Arsenal and Manchester United striker Robin van Persie returning to take charge of his hometown club.
Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2025
