OOH LA LA
Following last week’s smash-and-grab victory by Liverpool at the Parc des Princes, Football Daily’s expected fun (xF) threshold going into Tuesday night’s second leg at Anfield was extremely high but caveated by several questions. Would Paris Saint-Germain be able to play as well again? Was there any chance Liverpool could be as bad? After Alisson’s heroics in the French capital, would he again be called upon to singlehandedly repel PSG’s attacking hordes? And while it’s OK for PSG fans to finally like Luis Enrique’s exciting team of apparently ego-free young whippersnappers, is it OK for neutrals who disapprove of nation states buying up football clubs in blatant attempts at image-laundering to row in behind them as well? And the answers … Not quite. No, up to a point once it got to penalties. And probably not but they’re so much fun to watch.
While Football Daily was probably not alone in thinking PSG had left their chances of winning this tie behind them in Paris, Luis Enrique’s side survived an early buffeting at Anfield before restoring parity in the tie when Ousmane Dembélé showed more hurdling prowess than both high-profile fallers in the big race on day one at Cheltenham, leaping over Alisson and slotting into an empty net. A pulsating, thoroughly absorbing game eventually went to penalties and on this occasion it was the Brazilian goalkeeper’s opposite number, Gigi Donnarumma, who took the post-match plaudits by saving from Darwin Núñez and Curtis Jones, whose manager’s candour in effusively praising the game, despite its outcome, came as something of a pleasant surprise.
“That was the best game of football I’ve ever been involved in,” gasped Arne Slot, as several of his players shed salty tears. “Two teams of an incredible level and intensity, it was unbelievable what we showed in the first 25 minutes. Over 90 minutes I don’t think we deserved to lose. Over 180 minutes maybe it was deserved that it went to overtime and in overtime I thought maybe PSG were better than us. Then it comes down to penalties and they scored four.” Of course, as is customary when a Big Dawg crashes out of Bigger Cup somewhat unexpectedly, the punditocracy invariably looks for a scapegoat over whom to point their Big Finger O’Blame, which is bad news for a certain Uruguayan who might have missed his spot-kick with almost monotonous predictability, but at least played a crucial role in the scoring of his side’s first-leg goal.
Like Slot, the majority of Liverpool’s fans seem happy enough to concede they were beaten fairly and squarely by a good team hitting its stride across two legs, although they might not be so magnanimous if they weren’t 15 points clear in the Premier League. “Either of the two teams could have gone through,” added Luis Enrique. “We both deserved to go through but we deserved it slightly more, especially in the first game. We showed what sort of team we are. We have huge strength of character, personality, and we are a team who go out to play [our] own football.” That this style is in stark contrast to that of the b@ntz era big-name bottlers of PSG under predecessors who must have felt like they were trying to mind egomaniacal mice at a crossroads, is a testament to the managerial prowess of the extremely likable Spaniard at their helm.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Scott Murray at 8pm (all times GMT) for updates on Atlético 3-2 Real Madrid (agg: 4-4 agg, 4-5 pens) in the second leg of their last-16 Bigger Cup tie, while Will Unwin will helm our Wednesday night clockwatch, featuring Arsenal 3-1 PSV (agg: 10-2) and Aston Villa 2-1 Club Brugge (agg: 5-2).
QUOTE OF THE DAY
We’re going into eight weeks of your life now where you sacrifice everything – you’re not shopping tomorrow, you’re not bowling, your diet’s good … if your wife or girlfriend wants to go shopping, wants to do that, they have to make the sacrifices, it’s a massive sacrifice for us to achieve something because you can’t now go to Bluewater tomorrow walking around high-fiving and going Costa Coffee when you should be resting and all those things, now we have to be at it, now the professional has to be paramount, and everyone’s sacrificing, everyone’s family is sacrificing for the greater good if you like” – Nathan Jones does not appear to have become any less rambling or entertainingly intense since joining Charlton. A 1-0 win at Crawley leaves them fourth in League One.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Re: Stuart Pearce (yesterday’s Quote of the Day). From the man who walked away from a collision with a dustcart (at Newcastle) and tried to run off a broken leg (West Ham), I’m surprised the word ‘pain’ is in his vocabulary” – Paul Griffin.
Re: yesterday’s Football Daily. The proposed New Trafford Enormodome has three pylons, spires, or whatever you call them that are apparently inspired by the devil’s trident on the club badge. Are these the only three points home fans are guaranteed to see?” – Derek McGee.
I know I will definitely not be the first of 1,057 readers to congratulate Ed Taylor on trying again and successfully winning letter of the day yesterday with exactly the same letter as he sent in for publication on Wednesday 5 March that didn’t. The only thing less surprising than a c0ck-up [intentional reader-baiting, no? – Football Daily Ed] with a tea-time email was Alan Shearer still not understanding the new offside law change as evidenced in his commentary on Liverpool v PSG” – Andy Morrison (and 1,056 others).
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Declan Hackett. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
It’s the latest Football Weekly podcast on perfect PSG and more Bigger Cup chat. Go on, get listening!
AND HE’S STILL 17
Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal had another one of those games on Tuesday. The Catalan club’s latest little artist painted pretty pictures all over the pitch against Benfica, inspiring his side to a 3-1 Bigger Cup victory with insouciant shrugs, tricks and flicks before peaking with an effortless outside-of-the-box strike that nestled in the top corner. There was a ridiculous assist for Raphinha, too, that had social media abominations lighting up with some suggesting it could be the pass of the season. But credit to Lamine Yamal, the teenager admitted it was a skewed attempt at goal. “I tried to shoot and the pass came out to him,” he confessed. You have to be good to be lucky. Just imagine what he’ll be like when he’s an adult?
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
Multiple allegations of misconduct against police officers relating to the 1989 Hillsborough disaster have been upheld by the police standards watchdog, bereaved families have been told. However, none will face disciplinary proceedings because they have all left the police service.
Omar Berrada admits there is a danger in Manchester United trying to build a 100,000-capacity tent while the team is a shambling mid-table mess. “It is a risk,” he blathered. “We don’t want to inhibit our ability to invest in the team … while we are building a new stadium.” Meanwhile, United boss Ruben Amorim accepted Big Sir Jim’s assessment that he and his squad are underperforming. “If we are being honest in this moment, everybody [is],” he parped.
Normal service has been resumed in Germany after Bayern Munich put Leverkusen to the sword with a 5-0 aggregate win in Bigger Cup.
Unai Emery reckons it’s “fantastic” that Aston Villa are motoring along in Bigger Cup but he “wants more” – and this means qualifying for it year in, year out. “My objective is to try to be playing consistently in the [Bigger Cup],” he roared. “To stay at this level is difficult. This is the challenge I have.”
Patrice Motsepe has been re-elected unopposed as the Confederation of African Football chief suit for a second term, with Small Talk legend Samuel Eto’o being appointed to the executive committee.
Chelsea midfield stalwart Erin Cuthbert has signed a new deal until the summer of 2027. “If you had said to the girl who joined Chelsea eight years ago that she would still be here, I wouldn’t have believed you,” she whooped.
And Burnley’s Scott Parker did an Arne Slot as he was sent off for being a bit too fresh and funky after full-time in the 1-1 draw with West Brom. “The detail of it is not something that I want to try and get involved in,” whistled Clarets coach Mike Jackson, before making a speedy exit.
MOVING THE GOALPOSTS
In the latest edition of our sister email, Tom Garry asks: will Gareth Taylor’s Manchester City sacking actually turn out to be a masterstroke?
STILL WANT MORE?
All-action Vitinha embodies this new PSG as Luis Enrique shifts their culture, writes Jonathan Liew.
“Just as other mega-events have been hijacked for political ends, this World Cup will be leveraged for the glorification of a leader to a degree not seen since Benito Mussolini dominated the 1934 World Cup in Italy.” Leander Schaerlaeckens on Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino.
When was the phrase “smash-and-grab victory” first used in football parlance? The Knowledge knows.
And Nottingham Forest have a Bigger Cup place within their grasp. Ben McAleer looks at whether they’ll claim it.
MEMORY LANE
May 2004: Former Liverpool player Craig Johnston is photographed at Tate Modern after being named on the shortlist for Designer of the Year for his work on the The Pig boot (an upgrade on his original Adidas Predator design). “It is amazing to mix my passion for football and my love of design and invention,” he tooted. We think he is working on The Pig skin here, which was another idea he dreamed up in which you could buy just the rubber to fit over any old boot and therefore pimp them up to get Predator-level swerve. We’re not sure they ever hit the shops, though.
