Alisson Becker has said his outstanding display in goal that helped Liverpool earn an unlikely 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday was possibly the best performance of his life.
Liverpool’s No. 1 made nine saves to deny a rampant PSG side a deserved three points in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie before Harvey Elliott‘s 87th-minute winner gave Liverpool a narrow lead ahead of the return fixture at Anfield next week.
PSG have been in inspired form of late and fancied their chances of troubling Arne Slot’s side who were uncharacteristically toothless on the night, but the hosts’ vaunted attack that featured Ousmane Dembélé, Bradley Barcola and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia could not find a way past the Liverpool goalkeeper.
Asked whether he felt it was his best performance of the season so far, Alisson told TNT Sports: “Yeah, probably of my life I think … The manager was telling us how hard it would be to play against PSG, how good they are with the ball. We have to be ready to suffer. So when you see the clips as well from the opponent to know what is coming, so much quality on their side. But we as well, we work hard.”
Alisson’s nine saves were the most by a goalkeeper who also kept a clean sheet in a Champions League game this season.
“All the effort the team puts in and at the end, like Harvey coming in and scoring the goal, it’s unbelievable,” Alisson continued. “A great story for us, A great night.”
Slot was full of praise for his goalkeeper after Liverpool’s unlikely win in Paris.
“I don’t think I’ve worked with a goalkeeper who has played at this level, which is normal [because] he is the best in the world,” Slot said. “I’ve had some very good players as a manager, but I’ve never had the best goalkeeper in the world, and that I think he is. He showed that today.”
Goalscorer Elliott praised his teammates after he provided the game’s pivotal moment with his first touch, 47 seconds after he was introduced from the bench.
“It was full credit to the team to be honest,” Elliott said. “You can see they’ve become a little bit tired towards the end, speaking about PSG, and that was due to the team’s work rate, they were creating many chances, PSG, but obviously thanks to this man [Alisson] and the defence [we won]. It was a very solid game defensively, I thought, and it’s just down to me to put the opportunity away and thankfully it went in.”
Information from ESPN’s Global Sports Research contributed to this report