With its Champions League campaign in danger, Paris Saint-Germain finally showed the grit and fighting spirit that is supposedly the hallmark of a proud English side like Liverpool.
PSG beat Liverpool 2-1 in a tense match on Wednesday to move above the five-time European champion and into second place behind Napoli in a hard-fought Group C.
Coach Thomas Tuchel’s side had drawn twice with Napoli and lost away to Liverpool, a draw would have put PSG in serious danger of not qualifying. But now it’s Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool side that is under big pressure heading into the last round of games.
Napoli, which beat Red Star Belgrade 3-1 at home, is one point ahead of PSG and three clear of Liverpool, leaving the three teams fighting for two spots in the knockout stage.
“It was our last chance to show that we are capable of fighting against a team like Liverpool and Liverpool has an incredible mentality,” Tuchel said. “It was very important to show today we can fight against them. We defended incredibly well. Everyone was ready to suffer for everyone else.”
Liverpool lost last year’s final, while PSG has never reached one and in the past two seasons has not even been in the quarterfinals. Tuchel is banking on an improved team spirit to turn that around.
“We have to work hard to conserve this spirit and attitude,” he said. “The players are exhausted in the dressing room.”
Klopp’s side must beat Napoli at home on December 11, while PSG travels to last-place Red Star.
“We need Anfield again, we need a great atmosphere,” Klopp said. “We have to make a special night of it if we want to go through.”
Left-back Juan Bernat and Neymar gave PSG a deserved 2-0 lead against a static Liverpool side, whose only attacks in the first half were predictable and slow forays down the right.
Liverpool was given a lifeline on the stroke of halftime when forward Sadio Mane was clumsily tripped by Angel Di Maria and veteran midfielder James Milner coolly sent Gianluigi Buffon the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Liverpool had the better of the second half but failed to create clear scoring chances, with Mohamed Salah particularly ineffective.
Klopp was quick to criticise referee Szymon Marciniak and took a swipe at Neymar and other PSG players for what he considered to be play-acting.
“There was a little hurdle with the 500,000 interruptions in the second half, and the referee did nothing. In England we are high up in the fair play table, but tonight we looked like butchers,” Klopp said. “It was clever of PSG, Neymar — especially him — but a lot of players went down as if it was really serious.”
Klopp wanted PSG’s players to be punished more often.
“You act like you die and the next moment you get up. It could be a yellow card. You could do that,” Klopp said. “But I don’t want to say ‘Paris didn’t deserve it.’ We were not calm enough.”
Tuchel wasn’t drawn into the argument.
“If we lose a big match I’m also in a bad mood, I know him very well so I don’t take this personally,” Tuchel said. “I didn’t feel like it was such a big issue.”
PSG celebrated the win almost as if it had won a title, with Neymar jumping over the advertising hoardings and leading the rest of the team into jubilant dancing in front of the fans. It was a clear sign of PSG’s relief.
Tuchel got his choices right and his players responded to his request for more intensity.
PSG’s 13th-minute opener had a touch of luck as Kylian Mbappe’s mis-hit pass was poorly cleared by Virgil van Dijk and Bernat lashed the ball into the bottom corner.
PSG’s second goal came after another Liverpool move on the right broke down. PSG charged down the left and Dejan Lovren’s lack of pace was exposed by the electrifying speed of Mbappe. Alisson did well to stop Mbappe’s cross from the left reaching Edinson Cavani, but Neymar picked his spot from the rebound.
Liverpool’s goal arrived with a timely shift down the left flank, as Mane got behind the defense and forced Di Maria into a panicky error.
Liverpool upped the tempo in the second half. The mobile Mane was getting considerably more involved and PSG started to give the ball away carelessly.
But as the pressure rose at a tense Parc des Princes, Liverpool failed to capitalise.
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
If you go…
Emirates launched a new daily service to Mexico City this week, flying via Barcelona from Dh3,995.
Emirati citizens are among 67 nationalities who do not require a visa to Mexico. Entry is granted on arrival for stays of up to 180 days.
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Greenwood 77')
Everton 1 (Lindelof 36' og)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Australia men's Test cricket fixtures 2021/22
One-off Test v Afghanistan:
Nov 27-Dec 1: Blundstone Arena, Hobart
The Ashes v England:
Dec 8-12: 1st Test, Gabba, Brisbane
Dec 16-20: 2nd Test, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (day/night)
Dec 26-30: 3rd Test, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Jan 5-9, 2022: 4th Test, Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Jan 14-18: 5th Test, Optus Stadium, Perth
GULF MEN'S LEAGUE
Pool A Dubai Hurricanes, Bahrain, Dubai Exiles, Dubai Tigers 2
Pool B Abu Dhabi Harlequins, Jebel Ali Dragons, Dubai Knights Eagles, Dubai Tigers
Opening fixtures
Thursday, December 5
6.40pm, Pitch 8, Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Dubai Knights Eagles
7pm, Pitch 2, Jebel Ali Dragons v Dubai Tigers
7pm, Pitch 4, Dubai Hurricanes v Dubai Exiles
7pm, Pitch 5, Bahrain v Dubai Eagles 2
Recent winners
2018 Dubai Hurricanes
2017 Dubai Exiles
2016 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
2015 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
2014 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Continental champions
Best Asian Player: Massaki Todokoro (Japan)
Best European Player: Adam Wardzinski (Poland)
Best North & Central American Player: DJ Jackson (United States)
Best African Player: Walter Dos Santos (Angola)
Best Oceanian Player: Lee Ting (Australia)
Best South American Player: Gabriel De Sousa (Brazil)
Best Asian Federation: Saudi Jiu-Jitsu Federation
The%20Kitchen
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EDaniel%20Kaluuya%2C%20Kibwe%20Tavares%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EKane%20Robinson%2C%20Jedaiah%20Bannerman%2C%20Hope%20Ikpoku%20Jnr%2C%20Fiona%20Marr%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
John%20Wick%3A%20Chapter%204
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chad%20Stahelski%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Keanu%20Reeves%2C%20Laurence%20Fishburne%2C%20George%20Georgiou%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra by Eliot Weisman and Jennifer Valoppi
Hachette Books
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc