ByNeil Johnston. BBC Sport journalist at the Parc des Princes. 8 hours ago. 688 Comments. At least Liverpool fans who witnessed the four-goal mauling at Manchester City on Saturday were able to escape after an hour.. Those who paid hundreds of pounds to travel to Paris and watch an abject Champions League performance devoid of ambition were not so lucky.. Half an hour after the referee blew the full-time whistle to confirm Paris St-Germain’s 2-0 win – and Liverpool’s 16th defeat of the season – the away fans were still inside the ground as French police held them back in order to clear the home supporters.. “That was our champions against their champions. Our champions were nowhere near,” said former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who was inside Parc des Princes for BBC Radio 5 Live.. Stephen Warnock, the former Liverpool defender, went further after this quarter-final first-leg loss in the French capital – in which Liverpool failed to register an attempt on target in a Champions League match for the first time since 2020.. “It feels like confidence is at an all-time low,” he told BBC Sport.. And yet, somehow, Liverpool are still alive in the tie.. Could another “special evening at Anfield”, as Reds boss Arne Slot put it, be on the cards – or is that a step too far this time?. Toothless Liverpool’s hopes hang in balance after loss to PSG. ‘Playing five at the back sent out wrong signals’. Liverpool will still believe they can turn this tie around when the teams meet for the second leg in six days’ time.. After all, the Reds have done it before when all has seemed lost in Europe.. “We’ve seen some memorable European comebacks at Anfield before – from 3-0 down against Barcelona in 2019 to win the second leg 4-0, for example,” said Warnock.. “But it feels like they are a million miles away from doing anything like that at the moment.”. Liverpool were second best by some distance against the European champions, who enjoyed 74% possession on Wednesday, despite Slot’s team setting up in survival mode.. PSG had 18 shots to Liverpool’s three. Thirty-nine touches in the box to the Reds’ nine. More corners, more crosses, more passes – and with better passing accuracy.. Liverpool played with five in defence yet were ripped apart time and again. Up front, their attack lacked a cutting edge.. “They are a team which is creaking, hence why they played a back five,” added Robinson.. “Soon as they played a back five, it sends out the wrong signals for me.. “It is not playing to Liverpool’s strengths and it is defending their weaknesses.”. One French journalist at the game likened Liverpool’s tactics to those of a “little team” in the French Cup coming up against PSG.. “It was like they were scared,” he added.. Image source, Getty Images. ‘Better for Salah to save his energy’. On a night £125m British record signing Alexander Isak made his comeback from injury as a substitute – his first appearance of 2026 – Slot decided to drop Mohamed Salah.. The Egypt forwa
