Liverpool struck late to win a pulsating opening Champions League encounter 3-2 as Jurgen Klopp plots a route back to the final.
The rampant Reds roared into a 2-0 first-half lead against Paris Saint-Germain through Daniel Sturridge and James Milner’s penalty – but Thomas Meunier pulled one back for the visitors.
The French giants thought they’d stolen a point late on when Kylian Mbappe pounced on Mohamed Salah’s mistake to level. But a sumptuous goal from Roberto Firmino in stoppage time won it for the hosts.
Here, we analyse the performance of PSG’s misfiring forward Neymar, with the Brazilian far from brilliant here.
ake a look at the attacking stats and all looks well with Neymar’s night – four key passes, two shots, one on target, two dribbles. But equally eye-catching is the other story the stats tell – his five times dispossessed was one fewer than all other PSG players combined.
He certainly wasn’t helped by a lack of assistance from midfield – with PSG failing to build any sort of solid foundation. There efforts may well have been hampered by the harrying and heroism of an energetic Liverpool, as well as the absence of suspended Marco Verratti – but with Neymar’s side not completely at full strength, the Parisians needed more of a performance from their star player.
GOT RIGHT
Always a threat – He may have endured one of his more frustrating nights, but that’s the thing about world class players – they can create something out of nothing. And while it may have been Mbappe who got the late equaliser, it owed much to Neymar’s presence of mind and persistence.
Even though he ultimately got lucky with the final ball which ricocheted off a red shirt and fell kindly to Mbappe, his initial ball was one of four key passes – no other PSG player managed a single one.
GOT WRONG
Touch – Five times dispossessed and the third-worst passing accuracy of all of PSG’s starters told the tale of Neymar’s night. You wouldn’t say passing is his biggest attribute but 75.6 per cent (it had been rescued from a woeful figure in the mid-60s for much of the second half) is below par for a man who can conjure so much magic with his feet.
Failing to rise to the occasion – With being such a stellar player, naturally a lot of your team’s play is going to go through you. But as was the case for Brazil in the World Cup, this can sometimes be to the detriment of the team. You always feel Neymar has a moment of class in him. And essentially he played a crucial part in the equaliser, but PSG need a Plan B when things aren’t going right for him. And this was certainly a night to forget.
VERDICT
When he’s at his best he can be mesmeric. Yet when he is at his worst he can be maddening. And this is the side we saw from Neymar on Merseyside.
His evening may well have been bookended by a part in the equaliser, only for Roberto Firmino to steal the glory away, but for the Brazilian to have emerged with credit for this encounter would have felt unjust.
He can ill afford another lifeless display like this under the bright lights of the European stage if PSG are to belatedly make their mark on the competition.