Paris (November 29, 2018): Paris Saint-Germain took a big step towards qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages on Wednesday night after Neymar Jr. helped sink Liverpool in a blistering 2-1 win at the Parc des Princes.
The Brazilian struck in the 37th minute after Juan Bernat’s early opener to put qualification for the last 16 in the French champions’ hands and leave Jurgen Klopp’s team needing to beat Napoli 1-0 or by two clear goals in two week’s time to guarantee a place in the knockout stage.
Paris Saint-Germain are still in second place but still need a win at Red Star Belgrade — who they beat 6-1 in Paris in October — to ensure a knockout berth as they go into the final round of fixtures just two points ahead of Liverpool.
“It was our last chance to show that we are capable of competing with a team like Liverpool, a team with an incredible mentality,” said PSG coach Thomas Tuchel.
Defeat left a bad taste in Klopp´s mouth, with the German coach frustrated by refereeing that he claimed made his side look like “butchers” while only booking Marco Verratti for a high first-half tackle on Joe Gomez.
“For me it’s a red card,” he said. “I look like a bad loser, but I don´t care. I had a very good view of it and for sure it was not the same colour as the 500 other yellow cards.”
Napoli meanwhile are just a point ahead of PSG but three ahead of Liverpool after breezing past Red Star Belgrade 3-1 thanks to Marek Hamsik´s first goal of the season and a Dries Mertens double.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side knows that having beaten the Premier League outfit 1-0 in October a goal at Anfield next month would make their task much easier.
If they score the Reds would need to do so three times without reply to qualify ahead of the Italians with a superior head-to-head record.
A draw would also see them go through.
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