UEFA Champions League 2018-19: 5 talking points from MatchDay 1 (Groups A-D)

3. Firmino's late strike secured victory for Liverpool in a thriller against PSG:

The French champions traveled to Anfield to face last season's runners-up Liverpool. The match was tipped to be a battle between two of the best front three in the world. Cavani, Mbappe, and Neymar as expected started with Di Maria, Rabiot and Marquinhos, all three of the midfield player playing out of position. With Verrati not being available for this match and no direct replacement for Thiago Motta from last season, PSG struggled in the midfield area.

For Liverpool, Firmino did not start due to an eye injury sustained in the Tottenham match, but all the rest of usual suspects started- Salah and Mane started up front with Daniel Sturridge as the target man, supported by the tried and tested Henderson, Milner, and Wijnaldum in midfield.

Liverpool v Paris Saint-Germain - Firmino scored the winner

Throughout the match, Liverpool had a clear tactical advantage over their opponents. Blistering runs from Neymar or Mbappe would be thwarted by hard working Milner and Henderson. Additionally, the fact the PSG's front three hardly made recovery runs meant the easy ball to Alexander-Arnold was always there resulting in crosses in dangerous areas. A brilliant strike from Sturridge and a penalty won by Wijnaldum and converted by Milner saw Liverpool lead 2-0. But a counter-attack from PSG resulted in a Thomas Meunier goal before halftime to give PSG some hope.

For long stretches of play in the second half, it looked as if both the teams would score but could not. A misplaced pass from Salah was capitalised by Neymar who assisted Mbappe in getting the equalizer. Roberto Firmino who had come on as a substitute for Sturridge struck a terrific goal from inside the box in the 91st minute to hand Liverpool a sweet victory and three points for Klopp against Tuchel's men.