“They were awful and it was absolute daylight robbery” - Liverpool legend slams Arne Slot’s men despite late win over PSG

Liverpool legend Steve Nicol has labeled the Reds' 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the Champions League Round of 16 first leg as 'daylight robbery'. The Reds take a slender lead into the second leg thanks to Harvey Elliott's 87th-minute strike.

The Parisians registered 27 shots in the game, 10 of which were on target, with only Alisson's brilliance keeping them at bay. The Merseyside club, meanwhile, had two shots in the entire game, only one of which was on target.

Speaking after the match on ESPN FC, Nicol insisted that his former club were outplayed by PSG.

“Liverpool, other than the goal, were completely and totally outplayed. To begin with, I thought Liverpool were going to sit tight and try to counter just to play themselves into the game. But the longer the game went on, PSG just forced them back," said Nicol.

He continued:

“I have never seen this team under Slot give the ball away and look as though they have no idea what they were doing as they did in this game. It was absolutely mind-blowing. All that talk about this Liverpool team being the best team in Europe, I’ll tell you what, they weren’t tonight. They were awful and it [getting the win] was absolute daylight robbery.”

Arne Slot's men were also lucky not to go a man down after Ibrahima Konate appeared to nudge Bradley Barcola as he ran through on goal. The incident was reviewed by VAR, who opted to back referee Davide Massa's decision not to award a free kick.

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Will Ibrahima Konate leave Liverpool this summer?

Ibrahima Konate

Ibrahima Konate has entered the final 18 months of his contract with Liverpool and is yet to sign a new deal. The Frenchman joined the club from RB Leipzig in 2021 and has been a key part of the starting XI since.

This season, Konate has registered 31 appearances across competitions, 28 of which have been starts. Recent reports have suggested that Real Madrid are keeping a close eye on his situation (via ESPN).

The Reds are also sweating on the future of Virgil van Dijk, whose contract expires at the end of this season. Los Blancos are planning defensive reinforcements amid Eder Militao's injury woes. The LaLiga champions could plan a cut-price move for Konate this summer, or they could wait for his contract to run down and attempt a Bosman move in 2026.