Hugo Ekitike returned to Parc des Princes with a point to prove, only for the Liverpool striker to leave with a familiar sinking feeling.
It was a torrid night for the 23-year-old France international against one of his former clubs. He could not showcase how far he has come since leaving Paris Saint-Germain for German Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt just over two years ago.
Ekitike certainly was not helped by a submissive tactical approach to this first leg of a Champions League quarter-final from the Premier League champions which amounted to damage limitation. Head coach Arne Slot described Liverpool as being “in survival mode” post-game on Wednesday after he opted for what was effectively a five-man back line.
Liverpool had not started with that formation in either a Champions League or Premier League game since a trip to Brighton & Hove Albion under Jurgen Klopp in December 2017, when midfielders Georginio Wijnaldum and Emre Can operated as makeshift centre-backs alongside Dejan Lovren. The players had worked on it in training for just two days following last weekend’s FA Cup mauling at the hands of Manchester City.
“It is completely fine with me if everyone wants to focus on the tactics, but for me that’s absolutely not the story of the game,” Slot said. “Every tactic has been tried over here (away to PSG) but the result is always the same: Paris Saint-Germain blowing the opponent away.
“They have pace from everywhere, all over the pitch. (PSG full-backs) Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes are unbelievable offensive threats, so we faced them with Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez (as wing-backs). That was the thought behind it.”
Arne Slot suggested Liverpool arrived at PSG for this first leg in ‘survival mode’ (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
If Slot’s plan for the game in Paris was simply to keep the tie alive ahead of Tuesday’s second leg at Anfield then a glimmer of hope remains. But it exists thanks to good fortune rather than judgement.
The 2-0 scoreline of their eventual defeat massively flattered Liverpool, given the gulf in class between the teams highlighted over the 90 minutes. Only a combination of goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili’s heroics and some wayward finishing saved them from the kind of hiding which would have plunged Slot’s tenure further into the mire.
Other statistics laid bare the scale of PSG’s dominance. They completed 683 passes compared to Liverpool’s 189, had 18 shots to three, six on target to zero, and created an xG (expected goals) of 2.2 versus 0.18. In terms of big chances, as defined by Opta, it was 4-0 in the hosts’ favour.
It just did not sit right, the sight of Liverpool being so passive, even away against the European champions. It was the lowest xG they have generated in a game under Slot and the first time they have failed to register a shot on target in the Champions League since a 2-0 defeat to Atalanta of Italy in November 2020.
Ekitike was isolated for long periods and the fact he had just one touch inside PSG’s penalty area across his 78 minutes on the pitch underlines how little threat the visitors posed generally with their pitiful 26 per cent share of possession.
However, Liverpool were also entitled to expect more from the man who is their 17-goal top scorer this season. They needed him to hold the ball up, link play, win free kicks and try to relieve the pressure when they were under the pump, but he failed to do that. The ball just kept coming back.
Ekitike, whose frustrating spell at PSG amounted to just four goals across 33 appearances (19 of them off the bench) at a time when Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe were ahead of him in the pecking order up front, completed just 13 of his 23 passes (57 per cent) — the lowest of any outfield player who started last night’s game.
He also won just four of his 10 duels (40 per cent) and lost possession 14 times. There were far too many tricks and flicks when Liverpool were crying out for a focal point in attack who could just do the basics to occupy PSG defenders.
Striker Ekitike had one touch of the ball in the PSG penalty area all game (Franco Arland/Getty Images)
Ekitike’s only sight of goal arrived early in the second half when he cut inside and lashed a shot wildly off target after ignoring the unmarked Kerkez outside him.
If there was one positive to take from this trip, it was Alexander Isak making his comeback with a 15-minute cameo after nearly four months out recovering from a broken leg. How quickly Liverpool can get the Sweden striker up to speed will go some way to determining what, if anything, can be salvaged during the run-in.
Ekitike, who has only scored twice in 12 club appearances since early February, has had to take on a lot of responsibility in the absence of Isak, but it has become increasingly clear over his debut season that he is not an authentic No 9. Aerial duels certainly are not one of his strengths, despite being 6ft 3in (190cm) tall. Ekitike’s long-term future at Anfield will either be as a second striker or playing off the left.
Slot’s decision to drop Mohamed Salah after his struggles against City on Saturday and then not bring him off the bench despite making five substitutions from the 78th minute on was always going to attract attention. But the logic was sound, given the importance of work off the ball to try to combat PSG’s threat. Salah, given the scale of his drop-off in what we now know will be his final Liverpool season, was never going to be able to stem the tide.
“In the last part of the game, it was more about surviving for us than there was ever a chance that we could score,” Slot said. “Mo has so much quality, but for Mo to be 20 to 25 minutes defending inside his own box, I think it’s better for him to save his energy for the games coming up.”
PSG were a joy to watch but both goals were assisted by Liverpool’s lack of awareness and diligence. Florian Wirtz allowed scorer Desire Doue to get away from him far too easily in the build-up to the deflected opener on 11 minutes. It was a similar story when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia burst away from Ryan Gravenberch to double the advantage midway through the second half.
The sight of last year’s Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele squandering gilt-edged chances to kill the tie off brought back memories of Liverpool’s miraculous fightback in the semi-finals of this competition against Barcelona in 2019. Back then, Dembele missed a late sitter to make it 4-0 in the first leg at Camp Nou and Klopp’s side made him pay at Anfield a week later. Can history repeat itself on Tuesday?
“PSG were by far the better team tonight and could have scored more than two goals, but the good thing was that the players of Liverpool showed fighting spirit,” Slot added.
“We definitely need our fans to help us create an atmosphere at Anfield where we can rise to a better level than we did in this game. Don’t forget that Anfield can do a lot. I was sitting after the away game at Galatasaray (in the last 16, when Liverpool lost 1-0 in the first leg) in front of journalists who were not very positive about our game. One week later at Anfield, we played probably our best game of the season (winning 4-1 on aggregate). Our fans do make a big difference for us.”
Liverpool will lean on their home crowd at Anfield to inspire a comeback next week (Julien De Rosa/AFP via Getty Images)
The problem is that PSG are far superior to what was an average Galatasaray side. And Slot’s current crop are a pale imitation of the Merseyside club’s 2018-19 vintage, who collected 97 points in the Premier League that season and were eventually crowned European champions.
Liverpool left the Parc des Princes last night wounded but with their dignity just about intact, even if there was no happy homecoming for Ekitike. Dreams of playing in the final in the Hungarian city of Budapest on May 30 are dangling by a thread.