by There was a real story emerging at half-time from Anfield on Saturday.
The runaway Premier League leaders were 1-0 down against arguably the worst team in the competition’s history, Southampton.
Normal service was, however, soon restored. Darwin Nunez cancelled out Will Smallbone’s opener just five minutes into the second half and then it became the Mohamed Salah show once again.
Three minutes after the equaliser, Nunez was fouled by the other goalscorer which gave Salah the chance to make it 2-1 from the penalty spot.
That is exactly what he did, and he doubled Liverpool’s lead from the same spot with a couple of minutes left on the clock, firing his second penalty into the top corner as Liverpool won 3-1.
ICYMI: Liverpool and Adidas rejoin forces
It has been almost 13 years since Liverpool last had an Adidas-manufactured kit. It was a partnership that produced some of English football’s very best kits and the two will join forces once again at the beginning of next season.
It was announced yesterday that Adidas will take over from Nike this summer on a multi-year deal worth tens of millions of pounds.
The club’s chief executive Billy Hogan said: “Everyone at the club is incredibly excited to welcome Adidas back into the LFC family.
“We have enjoyed fantastic success together in the past and created some of the most iconic LFC kits of all time.
“Adidas and Liverpool share an ambition of success and we couldn’t be more excited to partner together again as we look forward to creating more incredible kits to help drive on pitch performance.
“We’d like to thank Nike for their support over the last five years and wish them well for the future.”
Head-to-head record
This is just the second time these two teams have been drawn against each other in the Champions League, so today marks the fourth ever meeting between Liverpool and PSG.
And it is the Premier League leaders who are edging the head-to-record after last week’s first leg. It was a win apiece when they met back in the group stage of the 2018-19 campaign.
Liverpool came out on top in the first meeting with a 3-2 victory at home, while PSG claimed a 2-1 win at the Parc des Princes.
Among the players who featured that day were Neymar Jr, James Milner, and Dejan Lovren. Throwback.
Early PSG team news
Luis Enrique took the opportunity at the weekend to rest a raft of his star men, although the threat of a Rennes comeback in the second half forced him to bring some of them on from the bench.
And having seen off that brief threat in a 4-1 win, the PSG players came through the game unscathed.
It leaves Luis Enrique with the prospect of fielding the same starting XI from the first leg, a team of players that caused Liverpool some real problems at the Parc des Princes.
Predicted XI: Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes; Neves, Vitinha, Ruiz; Kvaratskhelia, Dembele, Barcola.
