Steven Gerrard has suggested Ibrahima Konate could have been more physical against Desiree Douai ahead of Paris Saint-Germain’s opening game against Liverpool on Wednesday night. The two clubs clashed in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at Parc des Princes at 8pm. It took just 11 minutes for PSG to break through Liverpool’s defense, with Doue delicately chipping the ball to Giorgi Mamadashvili from the edge of the box.
Vicinha moved into the center of the pitch with good tempo, exchanging a quick one-two with Nuno Mendes and firing a duet down the left. The youngster evaded Konate’s challenge and misfooted the centre-back, who darted into the space in front of him. Doue then played inside Vicinha and the ball was passed to Ousmane Dembele.
The Frenchman lost the ball while advancing and the ball went wide again to Douet, who, twisting on the edge of the area, fired a looping shot towards Mamadashvili’s goal. The ball eventually flew past the goalkeeper and into the net.
A sharp shave off Ryan Gravenbirch’s back leg had a major impact on the trajectory of the shot, but Gerrard took issue with Konate’s lack of physicality in the challenge.
Speaking on TNT Sport’s Interval, the Liverpool legend said: “They could have been better around the halfway line, you can see that PSG are out of form for them.
“Konate could have won the duel better. If you look at the backline, everything is out of sync.
“Again, they get to the ball early enough, they have enough numbers. They’re not passive, they’re getting around the ball.”
“When he cuts back, they end up surrounding themselves with four players, but no one can close down enough and they end up getting a brutal deflection and a goal.”
Gerrard also questioned whether Mamadashvili was slightly closer to the line when the strike came, potentially tipping the ball over.
He added: “Maybe he could have been another foot or a yard back, but there’s probably no reason for him to be that high.
“It’s unfortunate and perhaps a bit cruel, but if you step outside of the goalkeeper’s union, you can say he could have been a little further back. Then he could have gone over the bar.”
This was made clear by manager Arne Slott’s decision not to use several key players for Wednesday night’s crucial game.
Mohamed Salah and Kodi Gakpo were relegated to the bench from kick-off, with the Dutchman instead relying on his front three of Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz and Jeremy Frimpong.
In the second half, PSG doubled their lead when Hviča Kvaratscheria fired a low shot past the goalkeeper and into the empty goal.
