Neymar in power as PSG leave Liverpool in the Champions League

PARIS: Neymar won what turned out to be the winner of Paris Saint-Germain who gave life to his 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 the end of the day. death.

PSG knew that a defeat combined with an unfavorable result in the other match of the evening of Group C could already allow the ambitious club belonging to Qatar to be eliminated, which would be a disaster for them.

But instead, it's Liverpool – beaten in each of his last five games away from Anfield in the Champions League – which now seems to be most likely to burst the last 16 games.

"When you saw their alignment, the approach they chose was quite risky, especially at first, to try everything as long as your legs are wearing you. The quality they thought was obviously pretty hard to handle, "admitted Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

He acknowledged that his team had not been good enough, even though he was unhappy with Polish referee Szymon Marciniak for his decision not to send Marco Verratti for a dangerous challenge against Joe Gomez in first half.

Elsewhere, Napoli beat Red Star Belgrade 3-1 and Liverpool now have to win 1-0 or two home draws against the Italians within a fortnight to make progress.

Such a regression in Europe would be a blow to Liverpool, even if it could help the Klopp team in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, PSG go to Belgrade for their last match, but must win to be sure to move forward, but at least they have their destiny in hand.

"It was our last chance to show that we were able to compete with a team like Liverpool, with an incredible mindset," said PSG coach Thomas Tuchel.

"Everyone was ready to suffer one for the other. It was needed against Liverpool and it was a big step forward for us. "

PSG had won only one of their previous seven games in the competition. However, Jurgen Klopp's players were completely submerged in the early stages of the Parc des Princes.

Angel di Maria had forced Alisson to make a nice shot on the fly before the recovery of Paris in the 13th minute.

Kylian Mbappe tried to beat Edinson Cavani, but Bernat lost the ball and the Spaniard scored his second goal in the competition of the season.

Verratti then escaped decisively with a yellow – one of eight at night – for a powerful tackle on Gomez in the middle of the first half.

"For me, it's a red card," Klopp said. "I look like a bad loser, but I do not care. I had a very good view and this is certainly not the same color as the other 500 yellow cards. "

PSG then doubled its lead thanks to Neymar. He had made mistakes from his opponents and fanned a crowd of fervent supporters before hitting left in the 37th minute, in association with Mbappe.

The French star crossed low for Cavani, who was saved by Alisson, but Neymar converted the rebound.

It should have provided comfortable cushioning for the hosts at the break, but Liverpool had the chance to return to the match by stopping playing in the first half.

Di Maria killed Sadio Mane just inside the area. The referee did not give a penalty but then changed his mind. Milner beat Gianluigi Buffon 12 yards.

Given the high stakes, the PSG sits more and more in the second half, although it is even closer to mark the head of Marquinhos and his victory is fully deserved.