Liverpool could learn from their Champions League exit and come back stronger next term, Reds expert David Lynch has argued.
Arne Slot's side were dumped out of the Champions League on Tuesday night after losing a penalty shootout against French champions Paris Saint-Germain, exiting the competition in the round of 16 stage.
If Liverpool had beaten PSG, they would have faced Aston Villa in the quarter-finals and would have been seen as strong favourites to at least advance into the semi-finals.
However, Lynch hit back at suggestions that Slot failed to capitalise on the chance to win the Champions League, arguing that the Reds would have had their work cut out to triumph, telling Sports Mole: "I wouldn't see it as a missed opportunity on the basis that I look at the years you would consider it a missed opportunity and it's the ones where Liverpool were clearly the best team in the competition.
"I look back on that 19-20 [season] when they got knocked out by Atletico Madrid - that to me was a missed opportunity because Liverpool were without doubt that year the best side in the competition, but they made mistakes at home and then eventually get knocked out and that cost them whereas this year we're pushing it a little bit.
"Liverpool can take lessons from that and see what they need to do going into the summer to change things and get a little bit closer to [PSG's level]. I don't think Liverpool fans should be too downhearted about it or feel like it's a missed opportunity. Yes, that quarter-final would have opened up but there were still tests ahead and if they have been knocked out by the eventual winners, then that is much easier to take."
Though Liverpool would have played a favourable tie on paper against Aston Villa, they would have then had to beat either Arsenal or Real Madrid in the next round, and it is difficult to say whether Liverpool would have progressed to the final.
The best team won
Liverpool were fortunate to have escaped Parc des Princes in the first leg without being beaten, let alone leave with a one-goal lead considering PSG created numerous chances in the final third.
In fact, goalkeeper Alisson Becker made nine saves in that game which was the joint-most on record since 2003-04 in a UEFA Champions League knockout stage game.
Though the Brazilian was less busy in the second leg, Lynch insisted to Sports Mole that fans can have no complaints about the overall result, saying: "The majority of Liverpool fans are accepting of that fact that, you take the two legs as a whole, PSG were the better side on balance. [The second leg] was a really even game, a great contest, one of the highest quality games I've seen live.
"I thought it was just phenomenal, the technical level, the pace at which it was being played. I really enjoyed watching it from a neutral perspective, but obviously from Liverpool's perspective, it's a disappointing one. It's weird to say, it's not like the damage was done in the first leg because although Liverpool got battered on the night they still managed to come away with the result.
"I thought Liverpool slightly edged an even game [at Anfield] but you can't come away feeling disappointed by that and even that Dembele goal - there is a bit of misfortune around that but with the amount of luck that Liverpool had had in that first game in Paris, I don't think you can be too disappointed on that front."
Slot remarked in the aftermath of the match that his side's clash at Anfield was the highest quality game that he had been involved in as a manager.
© Imago
What lessons can Liverpool take?
Though Liverpool fans will be disappointed by the nature of their exit from the competition, PSG did perhaps provide them with a glimpse of how the Reds might evolve under Slot.
Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia regularly threatened the Merseysiders' backline throughout the tie, while PSG's midfield were able to physically compete against and play through the Reds.
Lynch argued that Liverpool would benefit from trying to reach the level of their French opponents when he told Sports Mole: "I think PSG will go on and win it. They've got strengths all over the pitch, not very many weaknesses at all and the fact that they came to Anfield and won after trailing in the first leg, it shows they've got guts as well.
"I thought this was going to be a huge year of transition - I remember [saying] if they had a similar campaign to the last one in terms of finishing third and winning a trophy, that would be an absolutely brilliant result so the fact that they're definitely going to win the Premier League, it softens the blow.
"What we saw [against PSG] are the kind of lessons Liverpool can take as well - for me, PSG as may be the best team in Europe at the moment and if that's the case, that's what you're striving for, that's the level you're trying to hit."
Liverpool often played risky passes to Mohamed Salah when attempting to escape PSG's press, so perhaps reinforcing in attack to add more dynamism to the front line would be a sensible plan.
Lewis Nolan
