Liverpool 0 PSG 1 (Mar 11 2025)

[tlw content]

 

 

I’m feeling quite philosophical about this defeat, but that might change depending on PSG do in the rest of the competition. If they go on and win it this is not going to reflect too badly on us at all. We’re all saying right now how we were beaten by a brilliant team, but what if it turns out they aren’t? If they lose to Villa in the next round then this is going to look a whole lot different!

 

I can only say how I’m feeling right now though, and I’m ok with it. Relatively speaking. I feel sad today, but I’m not angry. I’m not pointing fingers or saying we should have done this or that, I just think we came up against a team that played better than us over the two legs and thoroughly deserved to go through. They said they’d do it, we all said they were being cocky, but they came to Anfield for a second leg and won. Fair play to them, not many teams do that and even fewer can say they deserved to do it.

 

Did PSG deserve to win this particular game? Maybe not as we were the better side on the night, but not by much. The first half was fairly even, we were very good in the second half and then they were definitely the better side in extra time. Bottom line is though, they fucking murdered us last week and we stole a result over there. Did they steal this one? No, it was a close game that could have gone either way but given how they played over both games (and how we played over both games) the right team went through.

 

Some people (me included) got carried away with the impressive start we made in this competition, winning seven on the bounce. That, combined with our dominance in the Premier League, had a lot of people describing us as the ‘best team in the world’. Other coaches said it too, and in certainly appeared that way. Maybe we were at that time, especially as PSG and Real Madrid hadn’t hit their stride at that point.

 

It’s been apparent for a while now though that we aren’t quite as great as it appeared. We’re very good, but not great yet. I’m fairly sure I’ve written it here or at the very least said it on the pod, but this team right now is a level or two below the ones who were racking up close to a hundred points and scaring the shit out of everybody we faced in Europe. Hopefully we’ll get back to that level, but we’re talking about the greatest team in our history and arguably the greatest team to ever play on these shores. So coming up a little short of that is fine. We are a little short of it though, that’s the point and that’s what we saw here. 

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[aws]

Good report and wouldn’t disagree with any of it.  On the issue of handling Nunez, I think we have to accept that Slot is more from the Rafa rather than the Jurgen school of man-management. 

[DaveT]

I was disappointed Nunez didn't start. He rattled Marquinos over there, who I think is an ok defender but nothing great. Jota is so far off the pace and has been particularly poor in holding the ball up.

Trent was really good,  excellent in the 2nd half.That injury is a real blow, especially if Konate struggles to make the weekend - an expensive night in more ways than one.

I took the attitude that the CL was a free hit - what I really want is the league, and if this gives us a better chance of finishing it off strongly and in style, fine. I was worried that progressing would mean another 2 or 4 high intensity matches with a squad that, in terms of the players Slot trusts, is actually quite small. If feels like Gravenberch, for example, has hit a wall recently. 

We started off really well, should have scored at least one. If Mo goes back across goal, instead of trying the shortest route, the goalie and full back are out of the equation - easy to say from the stands or an armchair. They scored against the run of play, could have scored again from a couple of one-on-ones (thanks, Ali). 2nd half, I thought we were outstanding, denied them any significant attacks, but the luck we had in spades last week completely deserted us. We lost to a very good team, no complaints, although I don't think they are strong enough defensively to win this.

 

Oh, and the referee gave us absolutely fuck all all night. A different European referee might have given us a penalty or two - the full back stuck a hand in Mo's face...... soft, I know, but Markovic got sent off once for much less contact. 

 

Hey, ho. Let's just hope Ibou is ok for Sunday and the lads can go again. 

[TheSire]

Thought Trent was really good and it feels like he's stepped up and shown leadership recently, it feels like he's gone up a level but not sure I'm being dramatic in saying that?

 

We looked like we ran out of steam which i feared when we couldn't score, although we got unlucky with the post a few times and a few crazy saves.

 

We looked really good for the first 30 mins, even when PSG had their inevitable moments I'd say we defended much better against them aside from a few scary situations. In the 2nd half Jota looked knackered and was getting clumsy which is understandable when you're fucked.

 

I wish Nunez was more aggressive when he came on because subs can almost lift the rest of the team with their energy but we lost our threat entirely near the end. Not to blame him but we know how much he can lift the crowd and his teammates but he just looked a bit lethargic. It's obviously a mental thing and sadly it's why he's inconsistent. He let's every little thing fuck with his head, he'd be a monster if he was a bit more ruthless. His penalty was really bad and I felt bad for him because it feels like nothing goes right for him for longer than a few games.

 

I'm actually okay with last night, it didn't feel horrible because we did play well and there weren't any obvious injustices. Just a little more luck with the post, that sweaty goal not going in and we go through nicely. Reminded me a bit of the Madrid final where we couldn't make our dominance count and it came down to a few moments.

 

The ref seemed to let EVERYTHING go if we got clattered, any time we lost a defensive duel I shat myself because he wouldn't give us anything and we know how terrifying their shooting is.

 

Now time to read the report...

[TheSire]

I think a lot of the reaction when we lose is a bit dramatic, people zoom in way too much and try to find this key reason that we didn't get the result. It's usually blaming a player or claiming half the squad need to be sold or something totally unrelated to the game. Usually the same ones who write off every fucking player we have (who all seem to come good, its almost as if theyre clueless).

[TheSire]

Side note.... it felt like every fucking bounced or loose ball just perfectly landed right in their stride. Cheat codes perhaps.

[dave u]

Considering what happened last week I don't think we can complain about them getting some favourable bounces!

[aws]

Just now, dave u said:

Considering what happened last week I don't think we can complain about them getting some favourable bounces!

Only fair that they got some bounces last night.  But it would have been nice if we got just one.  

[bigal]

Hoping that Arne is on a learning curve, there were opportunities to rest players on Saturday and he didn't much. A full season in England will be very different to what he's used to. And he has to show more trust in squad players, he's not Jurgen, nobody else is, but he doesn't show the confidence in them that he did. The pressure on them to excel when they get minutes is counter effective?

[MontereyCARed]

Fine margins indeed Dave. Thanks for helping take the sting out of the loss by putting it squarely into context. COYR!!!

[TheSire]

1 hour ago, dave u said:

Considering what happened last week I don't think we can complain about them getting some favourable bounces!

Fair point actually! It was like playing Fifa (shudder) and every time you tackle, the ball just rolls perfectly to their striker running at 86mph through on goal.

[Moo]

2 hours ago, bigal said:

Hoping that Arne is on a learning curve, there were opportunities to rest players on Saturday and he didn't much. A full season in England will be very different to what he's used to. And he has to show more trust in squad players, he's not Jurgen, nobody else is, but he doesn't show the confidence in them that he did. The pressure on them to excel when they get minutes is counter effective?

 

Maybe he's learning quicker than we think. The squad wasn't good enough last season and likely wouldn't have been good enough this season to go deep in 3 competitions. Something had to give.

If we win the league it will show he's learnt remarkably well and done the right things along the way.

 

[CrownPaints]

33 minutes ago, Moo said:

 

Maybe he's learning quicker than we think. The squad wasn't good enough last season and likely wouldn't have been good enough this season to go deep in 3 competitions. Something had to give.

If we win the league it will show he's learnt remarkably well and done the right things along the way.

 

I think it's a combination of some of the senior players coming to the latter part of their careers and wanting at least one more title, the team from last year developing, and the challenging teams from last year dropping away this year.

 

After 28 games last season we are +3 points, Arsenal are -9 points and City are -16 points. So we have had a small improvement to this point and others have fallen away.

[Code]

Im fucking gutted, it feels like this will take away some of the shine of the league title for me. 

[Moo]

22 minutes ago, CrownPaints said:

I think it's a combination of some of the senior players coming to the latter part of their careers and wanting at least one more title, the team from last year developing, and the challenging teams from last year dropping away this year.

 

After 28 games last season we are +3 points, Arsenal are -9 points and City are -16 points. So we have had a small improvement to this point and others have fallen away.

 

Nothing is won yet so I refuse to make any assumptions but in nearly 35 years we have won just one league title and it took the best manager of many of our lifetimes, and the best of his generation, to do it. If we win it with Slot this year it will be a remarkable achievement. He inherited a very good team but not a title winning one and a squad with flaws and shortcomings.  Let's see how we finish.

 

[The wanderer]

I think the game exposed a few shortcomings. If Mo is not doing the business we have nobody who can step up. In mf we are a ball winner/ carrier light. We have an important summer coming up.

[s(k)aturation]

 

I'd take a couple of League titles in the next few years over the European Cup any day.

[Red Shift]

2 hours ago, Moo said:

 

Maybe he's learning quicker than we think. The squad wasn't good enough last season and likely wouldn't have been good enough this season to go deep in 3 competitions. Something had to give.

If we win the league it will show he's learnt remarkably well and done the right things along the way.

 

Something indeed had to give. If anything we’re a slightly weakened squad from last season in that we lost Matip, but gained a broken Chiesa. For those arguing more rotation, did Klopp rotate last season? Did it help? We faded regardless, and it could be argued that slightly weaker first 11s weren’t  getting the necessary results.

 

PSG are 16 points out at the top of ligue 1, and into the semi finals of Coupe de France. Fighting on 3 fronts like we were. I have no idea how strong their squad depth is, but it remains to be seen what they win. Last night’s game was there for the taking, but essentially, regardless of why, the ball just would not go into the net for us. 

 

As I’ve posted in another thread, our core cadre of players are tiring, just like they did last season. There is no guarantee that rotation will get us over the line comfortably, so for me, once the Cup Final is done and dusted, we now have a great chance of getting our core group recovered and back to their best. I want to be able to put 2 fingers up in front of every Man Utd fan I know. WE will be the most successful club in the history of English football and THEY can fuck off.

[s(k)aturation]

1 hour ago, Red Shift said:

I want to be able to put 2 fingers up in front of every Man Utd fan I know. WE will be the most successful club in the

history of English football and THEY can fuck off.

 

That's exactly my thinking.

Indeed to both Manchesters, historically and presently.

We deserve a couple more titles on account of the "injustices" we suffered at City's hands.

And we deserve to be back on our perch.

The European Cup can wait - and if we're in it, let's be in it as Champions of England.

 

[DalyanPete]

Great uplifting report Dave. Sometimes you have to acknowledge the better team won, last week could and should have been a complete humiliation. It hurts and so it should but we go again.

What hurt me the most was thinking two cans was going to be enough to see me through to the 2am finish here, schoolboy error.

 

 

 

 

[Arnaud]

9 hours ago, Code said:

Im fucking gutted, it feels like this will take away some of the shine of the league title for me. 

Look at the full half glass of wine and not the empty half mate, if that makes sense in English.

 

Unless half empty is better than half full when it comes to Norwegian wine …

[Barnesey]

We ARE the most successful team in England. Be nice to match their 20 titles though. 

[Arnaud]

5 hours ago, Red Shift said:

Something indeed had to give. If anything we’re a slightly weakened squad from last season in that we lost Matip, but gained a broken Chiesa. For those arguing more rotation, did Klopp rotate last season? Did it help? We faded regardless, and it could be argued that slightly weaker first 11s weren’t  getting the necessary results.

 

PSG are 16 points out at the top of ligue 1, and into the semi finals of Coupe de France. Fighting on 3 fronts like we were. I have no idea how strong their squad depth is, but it remains to be seen what they win. Last night’s game was there for the taking, but essentially, regardless of why, the ball just would not go into the net for us. 

 

As I’ve posted in another thread, our core cadre of players are tiring, just like they did last season. There is no guarantee that rotation will get us over the line comfortably, so for me, once the Cup Final is done and dusted, we now have a great chance of getting our core group recovered and back to their best. I want to be able to put 2 fingers up in front of every Man Utd fan I know. WE will be the most successful club in the history of English football and THEY can fuck off.

They have two teams when needed, and the back up one are  good enough to beat almost every one in France. Enrique made 10 changes from the last game. 

[Code]

7 hours ago, s(k)aturation said:

 

I'd take a couple of League titles in the next few years over the European Cup any day.

Why?

 

Since 1955 when the European Cup was founded we have won 14 league titles, soon to win 15, while we “only” have 6 European Cups.

 

Winning the league is a piece of piss compared to winning the European Cup, winning the European Cup is a sign of greatness, winning the league is something even clubs like Everton, Arsenal, Blackburn, Leicester, Leeds in “recent” times can do. 
 

 

 

[Arnaud]

That’s a very fair, honest and relevant report Dave. That was hard to take but they were better over two legs, and they were not as shy and cautious as we were.

 

I think we were very good yesterday, until the extra time. But we’re far from being great, and we have many issues to sort out like having a striker who strikes, a bench the manager trusts and more skills in midfield.  Not mentioning the 3 players whose contract have come to the end and when You think about it it’s amateurish and criminal.
 

Trent and Mc were really good, and when they went out the game changed because we then lacked quality and leadership on the pitch .
 

I’d rather get out now than Madrid later.