PARIS -- Ousmane Dembélé has a history of giving Liverpool hope when all seems lost in a UEFA Champions League knockout tie, but the Paris Saint-Germain forward might get away with it this time.
In 2019, with Barcelona 3-0 up in the dying seconds of their semifinal first leg against Liverpool at Camp Nou, Dembélé blazed an easy chance to make it 4-0 over the crossbar. Lionel Messi stood next to him, furiously rebuking his then-teammate for his failure to kill the tie.
We all know what happened next. Liverpool produced one of the most memorable second-leg fightbacks in Champions League history to win 4-0 at Anfield and reach the final, where they defeated Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid to lift the European Cup for the sixth time.
Fast forward seven years and Dembélé was at it again, missing a hat trick of clear chances that would have snuffed out Liverpool's hopes in the quarterfinal first leg at Parc des Princes. It leaves Arne Slot's side with merely a 2-0 deficit to overturn, rather than what could quite easily have been a 5-0 humiliation against the reigning European champions.
But before Dembélé and PSG coach Luis Enrique endure sleepless nights thinking of what might have been before they travel to Anfield for next Tuesday's return fixture, there is one big difference that they shouldn't overlook.
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It was Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool that achieved the seemingly impossible against Barcelona, but this time, it is Slot's team that Dembélé has given a second chance to, and they showed in Paris that they are completely different outfit in every element to Klopp's side. Liverpool emerged from the French capital with their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread because of the way they played.
While Klopp's side lost 3-0 against Barcelona after trying to win at the Camp Nou, Slot's Liverpool had only one objective against PSG: keep the scoreline respectable enough for them to have a chance in the second leg.
In the end, it was mission accomplished, but only just. Had Dembélé brought his shooting boots, the second leg would have been rendered a non-event with no prospect of another so-called Anfield glory night.
Slot will argue that the result justified his decision to abandon his usual back four in favor of a three-man defense, with Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong deployed as wing backs. There was no starting spot for Mohamed Salah -- who didn't even appear from the substitutes' bench, with Slot choosing his new system to both offer more solidity and attempt to ensure more time and space on the ball for Florian Wirtz.