IN a remarkable season for Arne Slot’s Liverpool, this was perhaps the most incredible result of the lot.
It is a miracle that the runaway Premier League leaders are still standing in this Champions League tie and an absolute wonder that they kept a clean sheet.
But that sub Harvey Elliott should have sealed the ultimate smash-and-grab victory with an 87th-minute winner was beyond miraculous, it was simply ridiculous.
The scoreline at the top of this page reads like a misprint.
England’s champions-elect were subjected to a 90-minute pummelling from an electrifying Paris St Germain side.
There were elements of sheer fortune, including two major VAR calls which went in their favour – ruling out a first-half strike from the phenomenal Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and allowing Ibrahima Konate to escape a red card.
But Alisson conjured up a masterclass in the Liverpool goal and the rest was all about an obdurate Reds team who lose so rarely that they have simply forgotten how to do so.
Elliott’s strike was his first touch since arriving as a sub less than a minute earlier.
Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele had been magnificent all night but ended with nowt. Elliott sat on the bench for so long, yet went on and won it.
It is supposed to be France’s perma-champions PSG who don’t get proper competition in their domestic league. In this match, it felt like Liverpool – who simply never get dominated in this manner in the Premier League.
Yet they will head back to Anfield on Tuesday as favourites to book a likely all-English quarter-final against Aston Villa.
Both of these clubs are champions-elect in their homelands – both 13 points clear at the top.
And if Liverpool’s form had been excellent, then PSG’s was even better – they had scored 40 goals in a run of ten straight wins.
The Parisian Galactico era is over after Kylian Mbappe followed Lionel Messi and Neymar out of the exit door. In their place was a proper team.
And Slot’s side were subjected to a magnificent pounding, pass-and-move football from the Gods as well as dribbling and nutmeggery from the Messi school.
The fact that Alisson’s goal survived unscathed for 45 minutes was genuinely extraordinary.
At the centre of it all were Dembele – the hottest forward in Europe with 14 goals from his previous 18 games – and the Georgian winger Kvaratskhelia – try to get the ball off him, try to spell his name.
First, Dembele sprinted down the right, skipping past two Liverpool players and centring for Joao Neves to fire over inexplicably.
Then Dembele nutmegged Mac Allister and sprinted through four Liverpool defenders before his shot was deflected wide off Virgil Van Dijk.
And then on 20 minutes, Paris thought they had taken a well-deserved lead when Vitinha squared for Kvaratskhelia to bend a left-footed shot into the far corner.
You could have headed into the centre of town and hung it in the Louvre – but then the VAR robot ruled it out for a fractional offside.
If that was a stroke of luck for Liverpool, the next one was outrageous good fortune.
Ibrahima Konate shoved over Bradley Barcola on the edge of the box but the incident was waved away by Italian ref Davide Massa.
Liverpool launched a counter-attack but play was halted for a red-card check against Konate yet VAR Aleandro Di Paolo surprisingly allowed the on-field decision to stand.
Here was the ‘high bar’ for VAR interventions, which we are supposed to have in the Premier League but clearly don’t.
Then Kvaratskhelia – a nightmare for full-backs and spell-checks alike – produced a fierce long-ranger pushed out by Alisson.
After that, Barcola fed Dembele, with Alisson rushing out to block – Barcola having a follow-up effort blocked by Dominink Szoboszlai before his next shot was skied.
And then the Countdown conundrum man darted between defenders like a rat in a subway before he nutmegged Konate with a shot which Alisson clawed away.
Liverpool’s defenders had seen so much of the name on the back of his shirt that they might even be able to spell it.
It was difficult to recall such a sublime 45-minute performance going unrewarded. The scoreline read like a misprint.
The Reds, simply not used to this kind of pummelling, were clinging on for dear life. The shot-count read 13-1 in favour of the French champions.
Kvaratskhelia pinged a free-kick just wide, then forced another save from Alisson.
When Liverpool did manage to break, Nuno Mendes had Mo Salah under lock and key.
Van Dijk was booked for time-wasting – one of the most laudable yellow cards ever seen. Liverpool were desperately wishing these 90 minutes away.
Darwin Nunez arrived in place of Diogo Jota and soon left PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma needing treatment.
And then came the ridiculous denouement as Alisson punted forward, Nunez held it up and angled a pass to Elliott who drilled past Donnarumma, who ought to have done better.
It ended PSG’s 22-match unbeaten run. And it defied all reason.
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