Harvey Elliott scored lower than a minute after approaching as a late substitute to fireside Liverpool to a shocking 1-0 win at Paris Saint-Germain within the first leg of the Champions League spherical of 16 on Wednesday. Runaway Premier League chief Liverpool had survived a barrage of assaults at Parc des Princes to maintain the rating at 0-0 going into the ultimate levels.
Elliott was despatched on to exchange Mohamed Salah within the 86th minute and have become an unlikely hero by sweeping a low shot into the nook of the online along with his first contact of the match.(REUTERS)
Elliott was despatched on to exchange Mohamed Salah within the 86th minute and have become an unlikely hero by sweeping a low shot into the nook of the online along with his first contact of the match.
“To go away with a win over here was probably a bit more than we deserved,” Liverpool coach Arne Slot admitted after watching goalkeeper Alisson pull off a string of saves in a match dominated by PSG.
Bayern Munich took a giant step towards the quarterfinals with a 3-0 win towards German champion Bayer Leverkusen and 10-man Barcelona beat Benfica 1-0.
Inter Milan received 2-0 at Feyenoord.
Alisson to the rescue
PSG’s gamers can be left questioning how they did not take a lead into subsequent Tuesday’s second leg at Anfield after making a slew of possibilities.
January signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was excellent and repeatedly pressured Alisson into motion in every half.
The Brazil goalkeeper later described it as probably the efficiency of his life after additionally denying Ousmane Dembele in a one-on-one and stopping one other effort from Need Doue.
The one time Alisson was overwhelmed — by a curling shot from Kvaratskhelia within the first half — the objective was dominated out by VAR for offside.
“It’s difficult to think about the match in a positive way. We deserved to win, clearly,” stated PSG coach Luis Enrique. “Football many times is unfair and we have to accept that, but we are ready to (go to) Liverpool.
“We don’t have anything to lose.”
It was the primary time PSG had been overwhelmed in 23 video games in all competitions.
Watching on from the stands was former PSG participant David Beckham.
Regardless of signing a bunch of celebrity gamers just like the ex-England captain, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, the French big is but to win the Champions League.
Liverpool, in the meantime, has lifted the trophy on six events and underlined its know-how on this competitors by absorbing the strain earlier than delivering a late sucker punch.
An impressed substitution by Slot helped as properly.
Salah had been unusually ineffective and appeared pissed off because the sign got here up for him to go away the sphere. However moments later, Elliott got here up with the decisive second.
“For us, the only way over here with their fans behind them was to defend as we did and now we are hoping of course that our fans at Anfield will help us,” Slot stated.
Martinez landmark
Lautaro Martinez turned Inter’s all-time main scorer within the Champions League along with his 18th objective in European membership soccer’s most prestigious competitors, overtaking membership nice Sandro Mazzola’s file.
Brazilian Adriano additionally scored 18 targets within the Champions League, however that included qualifying video games.
Martinez’s landmark objective is notable, given a few of the iconic forwards to have performed for Inter, together with Ronaldo, Christian Vieiri and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
He fired excessive into the nook of the online within the fiftieth minute in Rotterdam to double Inter’s lead after Marcus Thuram struck within the thirty eighth.
The 2023 finalist may have been in an much more commanding place after the primary leg, however however Piotr Zielinski’s penalty within the sixty fifth was saved by Timon Wellenreuther.
Raphinha strikes once more
Raphinha scored a second-half winner as 10-man Barcelona received the higher of Benfica once more.
The Brazil ahead had scored twice in an exhilarating 5-4 come-from-behind win at Benfica within the league part and he was on the right track once more on the Stadium of Mild.
Intercepting a free go by defender António Silva exterior the world, Raphinha despatched a left-footed shot into the far nook within the 61st.
Victory got here regardless of Pau Cubarsi’s purple card within the twenty second.
Benefit Bayern
Bayern is eyeing the quarterfinals after a cushty 3-0 win over 10-man Leverkusen, which had defender Nordi Mukiele despatched off within the 62nd.
Harry Kane scored twice to finish his 4 game-scoring drought and Jamal Musiala capitalized on a mistake from Leverkusen ’keeper Matej Kovar to offer Bayern a giant benefit going to Leverkusen for the second leg subsequent Tuesday.
Kane’s second objective was a penalty, his thirtieth profitable spot kick in a row.
It was Bayern’s first win over a Leverkusen crew coached by its former participant Xabi Alonso on the seventh try.