Reds all at sea but can grab lifeline
PSG .................. 2 LIVERPOOL ....... 1
Liverpool the rest of the first half was a damage limitation job.
Just as it seemed the storm had passed they conceded again.
It was another swift break, a poor ball from Mo Salah outside the French box turning possession over eventually to Neymar who exchanged passes with Mbappe and sent the young forward flying down the left.
He crossed intelligently and even though Alisson superbly saved Edinson Cavani’s shot, Neymar had continued the run to steer home the rebound.
Two down after 37 minutes, Liverpool looked dead and buried.
Yet the lifeline came just before the break, Polish official Szymon Marciniak eventually changing his mind after initially giving a corner when Sadio Mane was clearly sent flying in the box by Angel di Maria.
Milner converted and Klopp’s side huffed and puffed in the second half. Roberto Firmino headed wide from Andy Robertson’s cross and the Scotland skipper also wasted two fine positions when he should have found an unmarked team-mate in front of goal. CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN last night claimed a do-or-die clash at Barcelona will be “fun” after stopping a dose of Wembley woe.
The Dane climbed off the bench to ram home 10 minutes from time and spare Spurs an early exit from Europe’s top competition.
With Inter’s final Group B match at home to PSV, Mauricio Pochettino’s side must now match the Italians’ result to make the last 16.
Eriksen said: “We still have one more game to go, our focus was to win this and now our next one is Barca. It will be tough but fun – we know what we have to play for.
“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.”
Pochettino gambled big on his win-orbust encounter, with Eriksen, Eric Dier and Heung-Min Son left on the bench.
The Dane’s absence allowed Harry Winks to step up and he did so, pulling the strings in midfield, picking passes and finding openings to launch attacks.
Indeed it was the 22-year-old who went closest in the first half with a 20-yard shot that crashed against the crossbar.
Eriksen’s 70th-minute introduction cued some much-needed magic with his very first touch, delivering a free-kick to the back post Jan Vertonghen inexplicably glanced wide.
Hugo Lloris did brilliantly to keep out Ivan Perisic’s near-post shot before Eriksen came good, firing home Dele Alli’s clever lay-off from 15 yards out after Moussa Sissoko had stormed into the box.
Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique struck in nine second-half minutes before Luuk de Jong’s finish in Barca’s 2-1 win over PSV.
Harry Kane declared Spurs “will go all guns blazing now” at the Nou Camp, with Barca guaranteed top spot after a night that saw the Dutch hit the woodwork four times.
And Pochettino said: “All is possible. I never say it is mission impossible. In football all can happen – you need to believe.”