Champions League Takeaway: PSG Pummel Liverpool & Atleti Stun Barça

Hello Rank Squad! It's the first Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the First Legs of the Quarter Finals - where PSG and Atletico Madrid both won by a 2-0 scoreline, albeit in very different ways.  At the Parc des Princes, PSG took Liverpool to the cleaners for much of the 90 minutes - and will be somewhat disappointed that their lead that they will take to Anfield is only two goals - some profligate finishing and some excellent goalkeeping from Mamardashvili holding them to just the two goals, but this was one-sided in almost every sense. Liverpool went to a five at the back, and still couldn't contain the reigning Champions, and Arne Slot has a lot of questions to answer ahead of the reverse fixture at Anfield.  In Part Two we head to Catalunya, where Atletico won at the Camp Nou for the first time in 20 years, and for the first time under Diego Simeone. It was a game of big decisions - VAR intervening to send off Pau Cubarsi for a last man challenge, whilst at the other end Marc Pubill got away with handling the ball in the box whilst on a yellow card. Hansi Flick was deeply concerned about the decision making, but he can be pleased with a lot of this performance from his side - who remain, deeply watchable partly due to their vulnerabilities. Atleti were clinical and resolute though, and will feel very good about the fact that they return home with a comfortable lead to defend.  It's Ranks!  And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.