Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool were just minutes away from heading to Anfield with a scoreless draw, but Harvey Elliott’s goal in the 87th minute sealed a 1-0 victory for the Reds in the final moments at home on Tuesday.
Nuno Mendes played a role in Elliott’s goal, which marred an otherwise near-perfect performance, especially considering he kept Mohamed Salah quiet all night. Before that goal, the Portugal international made life challenging for the Egyptian in the first leg.
While the Elliott goal is a blemish, his performance didn’t get lost on L’Equipe who revealed where Mendes stands among the best left-back in the world.
French media has high praise for Nuno Mendes after first leg
On Monday, L’Equipe noted (h/t Le10Sport) in its latest edition that very few left-backs would have been able to challenge the Egyptian as much as Nuno Mendes did. Recognized as one of the best in Europe in his position, Mendes won all 11 duels he contested during the match.
If PSG want to advance past the Reds to the quarterfinals, the Ligue 1 side needs Mendes to replicate this performance against Salah to give themselves one less offensive threat to worry about.
Mendes played very well up until Liverpool’s goal when he left the right winger completely uncontrolled.