There’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity. And Arne Slot chose the evening of arguably the biggest game of his Liverpool tenure to straddle such a divide.
If a feature of his debut campaign was the continued ability to make the right calls no matter what the scenario, this season has seen the Reds boss possess the polar opposite to that Midas touch.
So to throw his team into the proverbial fire at the Parc des Princes with a formation that hasn’t before been seen in his tenure was a significant and unexpected gamble.
For parts of the game, it seemed a sensible move. Certainly, Paris Saint-Germain appeared as bewildered as some of the Liverpool players during the opening stages when everyone was trying to work out exactly what was going on.
But that by the end the Reds were fortunate to escape with only a 2-0 defeat underlines the European champions eventually got to grips with the task in hand.
Slot’s decision to play three centre-backs – which, for the most part, meant Liverpool had five defenders and a sixth whenever Ryan Gravenberch or Alexis Mac Allister dropped deep – asked a lot of a team already grappling with a crisis in both confidence and quality.
It didn’t suit everyone, not least those of an attacking leaning who were often left to fend for themselves with diminishing returns. Florian Wirtz aside, there was little spark to Liverpool’s forward play.
There will of course be those unimpressed by Slot’s pragmatic approach. But there couldn’t be any complaints with the Reds' attitude nor their character, especially after going behind early to a massively-deflected Desire Doue strike.
That was the point Liverpool could have folded. They did not. Unlike at Manchester City at the weekend, there was no giving up here.
Nevertheless, similar to last year, the visitors were indebted to a display from their goalkeeper, this time Giorgi Mamardashvili, for ensuring the second leg isn’t a mere formality for the French side who were simply too good, particularly during the second half in which they frittered away a host of chances.
Indeed, Ousmane Dembele’s miss in the second half evoked memories of his spurned chance that would have put Barcelona out of sight in the 2019 semi-final. We all know what happened next then.
Such a comeback, though, seems a world away from this suffering Liverpool side.
Mind you, 2-0 is the most dangerous lead to have in football. The Reds are going to have to cling on to any hope, no matter how flimsy, they have of overturning this tie at Anfield on Tuesday. It's not over quite yet.
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Ian Doyle has covered Liverpool for more than 25 years, following them across Europe in multiple Champions League and Europa League finals and as far afield as Thailand, Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong and Qatar, and has reported on the Reds winning every major honour. He previously also covered Everton for 18 years and has followed England, reporting on the European Championships and World Cup final. Once had to tell Jude Law he does not drive a Mini.
