Wasteful finishing haunts PSG again in Champions League loss to Liverpool

PARIS (AP) - Paris Saint-Germain’s wasteful finishing came back to haunt the French team on Wednesday in a 1-0 loss to Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.

Harvey Elliott’s late goal punished PSG at Parc des Princes. It was only Liverpool’s second attempt on target compared to a whopping 28 for PSG.

Wasted chances galore hampered PSG during the group stage - where it lost to Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich, scoring just one goal in those three games.

But coach Luis Enrique’s side had turned the corner in fine style with 40 goals scored in 10 straight wins before this game.

PSG had 12 attempts on goal in the first half alone where Liverpool could not cope with PSG’s pace, movement and constant positional switches on a night where Liverpool's 30-goal top scorer Mohamed Salah was kept quiet.

Luckily goalkeeper Alisson was at his defiant best, however, making nine saves overall.

The imposing Brazilian twice denied Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and kept out attempts from Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé. There were also bad misses from Barcola and midfielder João Neves, who both shot over from good positions.

Kvaratskhelia thought he had scored with a brilliant curling shot from the right of the penalty area in the 20th minute but the Georgia star’s effort was ruled out for a razor-thin offside following a video review.

VAR went in Liverpool’s favor a second time minutes later, when referee Davide Massa checked for a red card check to see whether Ibrahima Konaté had pushed Barcola in the back. But no foul was given.

Kvaratskhelia went close with a free kick early in the second half and had another low shot saved.

Former England captain David Beckham was among the crowd at Parc des Princes. He played half a season for PSG after joining in 2013 during the start of the club's Galactico era and then retired.

It was turning into a night of frustration for this PSG side. A corner almost went in, until Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai stuck a leg out on the line.

Then, with the clock ticking, Alisson made the save of the night when he somehow got both hands at full stretch to substitute Désiré Doué’s bending shot from 20 meters.

Luis Enrique said before the game that Liverpool were Europe’s counterattack specialists and he was proved right.

The return leg is next Tuesday at Anfield and the winner faces either Aston Villa or Club Brugge in the quarterfinals.