Alisson on fire as Liverpool pull a fast one in Paris

Had it not been for his keeper, Harvey Elliott's late goal might have been irrelevant but Alisson produced a career best display to help Liverpool survive Paris St Germain's onslaught in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Wednesday.

The substitute's 87th minute strike was the only goal, putting Arne Slot's team in the driving seat for a place in the quarter-finals against either Aston Villa or Club Brugge.

"Without him, I don't know where we'd be," said Elliott of man-of-the-match Alisson who made a string of point-blank saves during PSG's 28 attempts on goal versus Liverpool's two.

Mightily-relieved Liverpool coach Arne Slot said PSG were the best team in the tournament and even a draw for his side would have felt lucky after PSG dominated with 65% possession and carved through their opponents time-after-time.

"(Alisson) showed that he is the best in the world today. To go away with a win here was probably a bit more than we deserved," he said.

"We were not under par, it was the pure quality of Paris St Germain, the way they've played all season. All the underlying stats tell you they are the best team this season," he said.

Somehow, though, Liverpool managed to come out on top and will relish having home advantage in next week's second leg.

"They're not going to play just against us, they're also going to play against our fans," Slot warned of Anfield's raucous atmosphere on big European nights.

PSG coach Luis Enrique promised a fight.

"We will go there and play the same way we played here. We were highly superior to Liverpool, one of the best teams in Europe ... The best player of Liverpool was their goalkeeper. Football is often unfair," he said.

"Without a doubt I think we can qualify next week. We will go and show we're a valiant team. We know it's going to be difficult against such an impressive team."

Enrique would not blame his players for their brief loss of focus in the final stage of the game. "I am so proud of my team, I can't see anything negative tonight," he said.