Liverpool see red after Neymar dramatics Pochettino feels ‘all is possible’
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Facing early exit, Juergen Klopp raises finger against 26yearold PSG player’s gamesmanship PARIS:
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp hit out at the referee and Neymar as his side slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain that leaves last season’s runners-up dangerously close to an early Champions League exit.
Juan Bernat and Neymar scored to put PSG in control in the first half in the French capital on Wednesday, before a James Milner penalty on the stroke of halftime ensured this pivotal game remained in the balance until the end. PSG knew a defeat here coupled with an unfavourable result in the night’s other Group C game could see the ambitious Qatarowned club eliminated already.
But instead it is Liverpool — beaten in each of their last five games away from Anfield in the Champions League — who now seem the more likely to miss out on the last 16.
Klopp acknowledged that his team had not been good enough, but hinted that a “clever” Neymar had play-acted to break the game up.
He was also unhappy at Polish referee Szymon Marciniak for his decision not to send off Marco Verratti for a challenge on Joe Gomez in the first half.
“For me it’s a red card. I look like a bad loser, but I don’t care,” said Klopp.
“Tonight we looked like butchers when you look at how many yellow cards we had. It was clever from PSG, especially Neymar, but a lot of others went down like it was something serious and we were not that calm anymore.”
“It was our last chance to show that we are capable of competing with a team like Liverpool, a team with an incredible mentality,” said PSG coach Thomas Tuchel.
“Everyone was ready to suffer for each other. That was necessary against Liverpool and it was a big step forward for us.”
PSG had only won one of their previous seven games in the competition. However, Klopp’s side were completely overrun in the opening stages at the Parc des Princes.
“We were not worried about playing at home. We know how strong we are and we always knew we could do it,” said Kylian Mbappe. The verve of Liverpool's wins on the road last season — at Manchester City and Porto in the knockout rounds — has been badly missing with three straight losses in this group. With just one shot on target, the Reds failed to trouble PSG’s 40-yearold goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
And despite James Milner’s penalty boost at the stroke of half-time to cut the deficit to half, an expected late surge by Liverpool never came, leaving Juergen Klopp's side needing a third straight win against Napoli at Anfield on December 11 to advance.
Napoli has nine points, PSG eight and Liverpool six with no team yet through to the next stage.
Liverpool will go above Napoli on a head-to-head tiebreaker with a win by two clear goals over coach Carlo Ancelotti's team. An unlikely Red Star win over PSG in Belgrade would also open the door to Liverpool.
successive European Cup/Champions League away games Liverpool have lost for the first time in their history. An early kick-off saw Atletico beat Monaco 2-0 thanks to goals from Koke and Antoine Griezmann in first half.
Atletico are two points clear of Borussia Dortmund, who also progress to the next stage despite a goalless draw with Club Brugge. The world’s most expensive player — Neymar — exhibited glimpses of why Paris Saint-Germain shelled out a €222million fee for him with one of his most impactful showings since his Barcelona days.
Aside from scoring PSG’s second goal — which proved to bedecisiveintheend— Neymar tormented Liverpool’s midfield and backline with his pacy runs and dribbles in the first half. In the second half, the 26-year-old took a different approach, with some showboating — including a rainbow flick over Xherdan Shaqiri — but he was also guilty of going down far too easily on some occasions.
But eventually, PSG, who took the lead through Spanish left-back Juan Bernat in the 13th minute, were able to avenge their defeat at Anfield, which also puts them on pole position to progress from their group with a relatively easy final game against Red Star Belgrade to come.
goals Neymar has scored in the Champions League, making him the highestscoring Brazilian in the tournament’s history. Lionel Messi returned to the Champions League with an inspirational performance, leading an already qualified Barcelona to the top of Group B, in a 2-1 victory over a resilient PSV
Eindhoven side.
The Argentine scored one goal — his sixth in the UCL this season — after a trademark dribble and set up
Gerard Pique for the second.
Champions League goals Messi has scored for a single club, overtaking Cristiano Ronaldo’s 105-goal mark for Real Madrid.
Christian Eriksen said Tottenham “know what we have to play for” on a daunting mission to Barcelona after he kept their Champions League hopes alive with a late winner against Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side were 10 minutes away from being eliminated at the group stage as they laboured to break down the massed Inter defence at Wembley. But Eriksen, surprisingly dropped to the bench by Pochettino, came to Tottenham’s rescue when he fired home after a neat lay-off from Dele Alli to take their Group B qualification bid down to the final game.
“We still have one more game to go, our focus was to win this and now our next one is Barca,” Eriksen told BT Sport.
“It will be tough but fun, we know what we have to play for.
“Tonight Inter came to defend, they knew one point would be better than losing, and playing against Italian sides you don’t have many chances. Luckily I took mine, and we kept them away.”
Tottenham striker Harry Kane said: “It’s tough to play out there, the pitch ain’t great but we’re getting used to it game by game.
“We played well though, we played out from the back, through the lines, and we could have got a couple in the first half. The clean sheet was massive and thankfully we got the goal.
“We will go all guns blazing now. It will be tough, but it is all to play for.”
“All is possible,” said Pochettino. “I never say it is mission impossible, in football all can happen, you need to believe. It will be tough (to win at Barcelona) but the belief is so important. Now we have another tough game against Arsenal first, and we need to be ready again.
“The most important thing is to try and translate confidence to the whole squad. If you win it’s a topic, people ask why you change if your performance was good?”
LONDON:
SPALLETTI TRUSTS BARCA NOT BEAT SPURS
Inter Milan’s hopes of reaching the Champions League round of 16 are in the hands of Barcelona and coach Luciano Spalletti believes the Catalans will not let his team down.
Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 win over Inter on Wednesday means they will go through at the expense of the Serie A side if they win their final Group B match away to Barcelona.
Spalletti, whose own team host PSV Eindhoven in the other group match on Dec. 11, said there was no question that Barcelona would give it their all even if they had already qualified.
“They are serious professionals,” he said. “I have no doubts about the way they will approach the match.
“It hasn’t occurred to me that players like Gerard Pique, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez could take their foot off the pedal or not care about losing at home.”
Spalletti said his decision to substitute midfielder Radja Nainggolan just before halftime was due to an ankle problem.
“Everything is fine with Radja and there was no issue between us at the time of his substitution,” said Spalletti.
“He felt pain in his ankle and he was having some trouble running as his muscle stiffened up, therefore I opted to bring him off just before the interval. We had done all the necessary checks before the game.”
MILAN: