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PARIS – Neymar scored a winning goal as Paris Saint-Germain breathe its life into the Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win over Liverpool on Wednesday, leaving last season's finalists close to a premature exit .
Juan Bernat and Neymar scored to give PSG control in the first half in the French capital, but a penalty from James Milner at halftime allowed this decisive match to stay in the balance until death.
PSG knew that a defeat combined with an unfavorable result in the other match of the evening of Group C could already see the ambitious club belonging to Qatar eliminated, which would be little more than a disaster for them.
But instead, Liverpool – beaten in each of his last five games away from Anfield in the Champions League – now seems to be the most likely to escape the last 16.
Napoli beat Red Star Belgrade 3-1 on Wednesday, and Liverpool must win by two goals at home against the Italians within fifteen days to progress.
Such a regression in Europe would be a blow to Liverpool, even if it could help Klopp's team in their fight against Manchester City for the Premier League title.
Meanwhile, PSG are going to Belgrade for their last game but still have to win to be sure to move to the playoff for a seventh consecutive season, but at least they have their destiny in hand.
PSG were desperate to bring Neymar and Kylian Mbappe back to the match after the two men were injured on an international mission last week.
The Brazilian had a problem in the groin eight days earlier, but he looked moody. He was determined to play PSG's biggest game in the Champions League since he was eliminated by Real Madrid last season without him due to injury.
PSG had won only one of their last seven games of the competition.
However, Jurgen Klopp's players were completely submerged in the early stages of the Parc des Princes.
Angel di Maria was forced ahead of Alisson with a speculative flying recovery before Paris came home in the 13th minute.
Mbappe tried to beat Edinson Cavani, but the ball broke to Bernat. The Spanish left-back swept his right foot to score his second goal of the season.
Marco Verratti led the game in the middle of the field, although the Italian was lucky not to be ruled out for a dangerous tackle on Joe Gomez in the middle of the first half.
PSG has survived and doubled its lead thanks to Neymar.
The most expensive player in the world had made mistakes from his opponents and fanned a crowd of fervent supporters before exploding left in the 37th minute, in badociation with Mbappe.
Ey Neymar pic.twitter.com/uABgWZuhzh
– UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague)
November 28, 2018
The winner of the French World Cup crossed bottom for Cavani, who was saved by Alisson, but Neymar followed to convert the rebound.
The 14th goal of the season Neymar should have allowed the hosts to take a comfortable cushion at the break, but Liverpool had the chance to return to the match by stopping the game in the first period.
Di Maria slaughtered Sadio Mane needlessly just inside the area. Polish referee Szymon Marciniak did not give any penalty but then changed his mind. Milner beat Gianluigi Buffon 12 yards.
#Champions League RESULTS
PSG 2-1 Liverpool #PSGLIV
Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Inter Milan #TOTINT
PSV 1-2 Barcelona
Naples 3-1 Red Star Belgrade
Borussia Dortmund 0-0 Club Brugge
FC Porto 3-1 Schalke
Atletico Madrid 2-0 Monaco
Lokomotiv Moscow 2-0 Galatasaray #UCL– IOL Sport (@IOLsport)
November 28, 2018
Marquinhos thought he had restored PSG's two-goal lead two minutes into the second period, but the offside flag thwarted him after a free kick.
Understandably, given the high stakes, PSG took more and more seats as the game progressed, although they still have the best chance to score at the head of Marquinhos and their victory is fully deserved.
.@Champions League Last 16 teams up to now:
Ajax Amsterdam, Rome, Atletico Madrid
Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona
Juventus, Manchester City, Manchester United
Real Madrid, Porto, Schalke #UCL– IOL Sport (@IOLsport)
November 28, 2018
AFP
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