Thomas Tuchel Was Right—a 3-2 Liverpool Victory Wasn’t “Logical or Correct”

Following Liverpool’s 3-2 victory over Paris Saint-Germain thanks to a stoppage time goal by Roberto Firmino, PSG manager Thomas Tuchel told the press that he didn’t believe the final scoreline was a fair reflection of the game and he was right. Just not in the way he meant it.

“Maybe the score did not really tell the story of the game,” was Tuchel’s post-match reaction following a night that saw Liverpool nearly double PSG’s shots and expected goals and that, had Liverpool’s finishing been better, could easily have seen the Reds score four or five.

“For me, the score was not logical or correct,” he continued. “We conceded two in the first half but never did we lose our confidence. We showed a lot of bravery and mental strength. Maybe in the second we started to give the ball away a little easily, but this is Anfield.”

They also got help from the officials, with Daniel Sturridge’s follow through that contacted the goalkeeper as he went for—and made solid contact with—a loose ball in the penalty area given as a foul and ruling out Mohamed Salah’s goal as he pounced on the rebound.

There was also the small matter of PSG striker Edinson Cavani being offside and involved in the play in the build-up to the Ligue 1 side’s first half goal, an incident that had it been officiated to the rules of the game would have cut the visitor’s two-goal tally in half.

Liverpool were the better side statistically and had two close calls worth a two-goal swing go against them. The only way their 3-2 victory over PSG wasn’t logical or correct was by the narrowness of the final scoreline against a visiting side that never really looked in it.

A draw and point for PSG would have been horribly unfair to Liverpool given the way the two sides played on the night, and while the visitors can tell themselves they were in the game thanks to a narrow final scoreline and Firmino’s late winner, they simply weren’t.