According to Reds expert David Lynch, Liverpool could grow from their Champions League loss and return stronger the following season.
Tuesday night, Arne Slot’s team lost a penalty shootout to Paris Saint-Germain, the French champions, and was eliminated from the Champions League in the round of 16.
Liverpool would have faced Aston Villa in the quarterfinals and would have been viewed as heavy favorites to at least make it to the semi-finals if they had defeated PSG.
“I wouldn’t see it as a missed opportunity on the basis that I look at the years you would consider it a missed opportunity and it’s the ones where Liverpool were clearly the best team in the competition,” Lynch told Sports Mole in response to claims that Slot missed the opportunity to win the Champions League, claiming that the Reds would have had their work cut out for them.
“I look back on that 19-20 [season] when they got knocked out by Atletico Madrid – that to me was a missed opportunity because Liverpool were without doubt that year the best side in the competition, but they made mistakes at home and then eventually get knocked out and that cost them whereas this year we’re pushing it a little bit.
“Liverpool can take lessons from that and see what they need to do going into the summer to change things and get a little bit closer to [PSG’s level]. I don’t think Liverpool fans should be too downhearted about it or feel like it’s a missed opportunity. Yes, that quarter-final would have opened up but there were still tests ahead and if they have been knocked out by the eventual winners, then that is much easier to take.”
It is hard to say whether Liverpool would have advanced to the final even though they would have played a favorable match against Aston Villa on paper. They would have then needed to defeat either Real Madrid or Arsenal in the following round.
The top team prevailed.
Given that PSG created multiple chances in the final third, Liverpool was lucky to have left Parc des Princes in the first leg undefeated, let alone with a one-goal lead.
Alisson Becker, the goalie, actually made nine saves in that match, which was the second-highest total since 2003–04 in a UEFA Champions League knockout stage match.
Lynch told Sports Mole that despite the Brazilian’s lack of activity in the second leg, supporters shouldn’t be upset about the outcome overall. “Most Liverpool supporters accept that, when you take the two legs as a whole, PSG was the better side on balance,” Lynch said. One of the best contests I’ve ever witnessed in person, the second leg was extremely close.
“I thought it was just phenomenal, the technical level, the pace at which it was being played. I really enjoyed watching it from a neutral perspective, but obviously from Liverpool’s perspective, it’s a disappointing one. It’s weird to say, it’s not like the damage was done in the first leg because although Liverpool got battered on the night they still managed to come away with the result.
“I thought Liverpool slightly edged an even game [at Anfield] but you can’t come away feeling disappointed by that and even that Dembele goal – there is a bit of misfortune around that but with the amount of luck that Liverpool had had in that first game in Paris, I don’t think you can be too disappointed on that front.”
In the post-match press conference, Slot said that his team’s match against Anfield was the best game he had ever managed.
What can Liverpool learn from this?
PSG may have given Liverpool supporters a preview of how the Reds might change under Slot, even though they will be disappointed by the way they were eliminated from the competition.
Throughout the match, PSG’s midfield was able to play through and physically compete with the Reds, while Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia consistently threatened the Merseysiders’ defense.
Liverpool frequently attempted to get away from PSG’s press by making risky passes to Mohamed Salah, so maybe stepping up offensively to give the front line more energy would be a wise move.