Alisson ‘showed he is the best in the world’, says Slot after Liverpool win in Paris

Had it not been for his keeper, Harvey Elliott's late goal might have been irrelevant but Alisson produced a career best display to help Liverpool survive Paris St Germain's onslaught in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Wednesday.

The substitute's 87th-minute strike was the only goal, putting Arne Slot's team in the driving seat for a place in the quarterfinals against either Aston Villa or Club Brugge.

“Without him, I don't know where we'd be,” said Elliott of man-of-the-match Alisson who made a string of point-blank saves during PSG's 28 attempts on goal vs Liverpool's two.

Mightily-relieved Liverpool coach Arne Slot said PSG were the best team in the tournament and even a draw for his side would have felt lucky after PSG dominated with 65% possession and carved through their opponents time-after-time.

"[Alisson] showed he is the best in the world today. To go away with a win here was probably a bit more than we deserved,” he said.

“We were not under par, it was the pure quality of Paris St Germain, the way they've played all season. All the underlying stats tell you they are the best team this season,” he said.

Somehow, though, Liverpool managed to come out on top and will relish having home advantage in next week's second leg.

“They're not going to play just against us, they're also going to play against our fans,” Slot warned of Anfield's raucous atmosphere on big European nights.

PSG coach Luis Enrique promised a fight.

“We will go there and play the same way we played here. We were highly superior to Liverpool, one of the best teams in Europe. The best player of Liverpool was their goalkeeper. Football is often unfair,” he said.

Elliott slotted against the run of play after a layoff from fellow substitute Darwin Nunez for a scarcely-deserved victory in Paris.

PSG, who had won 18 of their last 20 competitive games, drawing the other two, were left to rue their missed chances from dozens of attempts. 

Also on Wednesday night, Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane scored once in each half to guide his team to a 3-0 victory over 10-man Bayer Leverkusen in the all-German first-leg match.

The Bavarians, who earned their first victory in the last seven matches against Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen and will take a significant advantage into next week's return, established a ninth-minute lead through Kane's powerful header.

Keeper Matej Kovar gifted them a second in the 54th minute after he dropped the ball from a Joshua Kimmich cross to allow Jamal Musiala to tap home.

Things got worse for the visitors when Nordi Mukiele was sent off after a second booking and Kane sealed Bayern's comfortable win with a well-taken 75th-minute penalty.

The winners will face Feyenoord or Inter Milan in the last eight. 

Raphinha struck a second-half winner to give Barcelona a lion-hearted 1-0 victory at Benfica as they overcame a red card for Pau Cubarsi early in the game to steal an advantage in the first leg.

Barcelona teenage defender Cubarsi was given a straight red card for a last-man foul on Vangelis Pavlidis in the 22nd minute, but the visitors hung on with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny putting in a brilliant performance.

The Polish veteran pulled off a string of brilliant saves to keep Barca in the game and his effort was rewarded in the 61st minute when Raphinha pounced on a poor defensive pass across the Benfica box.

He then capitalised on the mistake, firing a low strike that deflected off a defender before going in just inside the left post.

Inter Milan secured a 2-0 victory at Feyenoord with goals from Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez.

Wednesday night’s Uefa Champions League last 16 first leg results

Paris St Germain 0 Liverpool 1

Bayern Munich 3 Leverkusen 0

SL Benfica 0 Barcelona 1

Feyenoord 0 Inter Milan 2