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In a high profile clash at the Parc Des Princes, PSG took on Liverpool with a potential Round of 16 spot at stake. In the first leg at the Anfield, Liverpool won 3-2 after a memorable injury-time winner by Bobby Firmino and PSG were looking to hit back in the second leg on Wednesday in front of a hostile home crowd.
For PSG, Neymar and Mbappe returned after a brief injury layoff and Kehrer was opted to play the right back role over Meunier and the veteran Dani Alves. Tuchel took a bold decision and dropped Rabiot from the midfield. PSG went with a 4-2-3-1 combination with Marquinhos and Veratti as the holding midfielders and Angel Di Maria, Neymar and Mbappe as attacking midfielders.
After a thunderous start to the season, Liverpool had lost some steam in the past month and were hoping to prove themselves against a strong opponent. Klopp opted to go with Van Dijk and Lovren as center-backs, with the promising youngster Gomez as the right back. He went with his usual 4-3-3 formation with an experienced midfield trio of Milner, Henderson and Wijnaldum and a potent front three of Mane, Salah, Firmino.
PSG dominated possession right from the start and they looked fluent while attacking as Neymar repeatedly found some space in the left wing. At the 13th minute, Neymar picked out Mbappe a few yards outside the box and the Frenchman made a run into the box and took a shot.
The ball deflected off a Liverpool defender and Veratti was right on the spot to strike the ball into the left corner. Mbappe once again contributed heavily for PSG’s second goal by passing the ball neatly in close range and Neymar tapped the ball into the nets. Milner scored a penalty before halftime but in the end, PSG won 2-1. Here are the 3 reasons why Liverpool was defeated by PSG.
#1 The flaw in Klopp’s Gegen pressing
Klopp has always emphasized on possession-based football and the crux of this Liverpool team revolves around Gegen pressing (i.e) pressing hard to win the ball as quickly as possible after losing possession.
With the workhorse Milner and the versatile Wijnaldum in the team, Klopp's pressing style has worked for most parts of the season. But on Saturday against a strong PSG lineup, Klopp's methods did not quite work out as planned. PSG crowded their midfield with players who are efficient in passing the ball quickly and thus they rarely lost possession in the 1st half and the Liverpool defenders lost a lot of energy due to hard pressing.
The frustration of Liverpool players resulted in them playing much higher up the pitch and thus their defense succumbed to the pacy counterattacks of PSG. Liverpool played much better in the second half but by then the match was firmly in PSG's grasp. Against PSG, Klopp did not have a plan B and he eventually paid the price for it.
#2 Firmino's role in the team
The main reason for Liverpool's sustained success last season was Firmino's imperious form and he looked set to continue his form this season, but after a brief time out of the team early this season, he has looked a shadow of his own self.
On Wednesday against PSG, he was lost on the pitch and had little impact on his team's performance. His role among the front three of Liverpool is not clear. Firmino's strength lies in dropping off and linking up with other players in the midfield but Salah's slump in form compared to last season has forced him to remain in the box looking for goals.
Salah, Mane and Firmino all three of them love dropping off and having the ball at their feet from the middle of the pitch and this has resulted in lack of bodies inside the box during counterattacks. Klopp must soon find a way to utilize the full potential of Firmino.
#3 Lack of creativity in the midfield
The crux of Klopp’s tactical approach revolves around moving the ball further up the pitch as quickly as possible and this approach demands hardworking midfielders who are effective in both attack and defense.
Against big teams, creative passers of the ball are essential in the midfield and for this purpose, only Klopp bought Keita for a huge price. Liverpool’s attacking dominance had considerably lowered after losing Nabi Keita to injury. Fabinho has shown a lot of promise but he is inexperienced and error-prone.
On Wednesday, Klopp went with Milner and Henderson who are experienced in pressing hard to win back the ball but they do not possess the vision and passing ability of Keita. Wijnaldum has excelled as an attacking midfielder for the Dutch but in this team, he plays the role of holding midfielder and thus he is rarely involved in his team’s attacking play.
Keita came from the bench in the second half but PSG were happy to stay back and conserve their lead, Hence Keita could not have a big impact on the match.
