Harvey Elliott wasn't the least bit surprised by Alisson Becker's history-making heroics at Parc des Princes last Wednesday night - but he was still blown away by them. "I've got no words, to be honest," the forward told TNT Sports while standing alongside Liverpool's No.1. "This guy, he's just unbelievable, the best in the world. Each and every game he shows it, [he] keeps us in so many games. Without him, I don't know where we'd be."
They certainly wouldn't be going into the second leg of their last-16 tie with a 1-0 lead over Paris Saint-Germain, who peppered the Reds goals with shots for 90 minutes. Alisson made nine saves in a shockingly one-sided first leg and, as a rueful Luis Enrique admitted afterwards, five of them were "amazing".
"Their best player was the goalie," the Spaniard said. "Alisson decided which way this game went." Peter Schmeichel wholeheartedly agreed, as the Manchester United legend said on CBS Sports that Liverpool would have lost 3-0 had it not been for "one of the best goalkeeping performances I've seen in my life."
Given Alisson is only 32 - relatively young for his particular position - it feels a little strange that there is a chance that he could be usurped as Liverpool's first-choice shot-stopper this summer - or even leave the club. After all, the Reds have already put a succession plan in place, with Giorgi Mamardashvili set to belatedly arrive at Anfield this summer from Valencia. However, while the presumption was that the Georgian would immediately take over in between the posts from Alisson, their contrasting form right now could well prompt a rethink...
