PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi sends classy Liverpool message after Champions League win

President of Paris Saint-Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaifi (right),

So often a graveyard for French clubs’ European dreams, Anfield was the place where Paris Saint-Germain underlined their Champions League credentials

Trailing 1-0 in the tie after Harvey Elliott struck late at the Parc des Princes last week, Luis Enrique’s men battled through an early onslaught

It was cruel but fitting that a contest between two of Europe’s best clubs would be decided by the barest of margins and after 120 minutes of exceptional football on Merseyside, Gianluigi Donnarumma was the hero as PSG prevailed on spot-kicks.

In an interview with CBS Sports following the match, Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi lauded the “character” his players showed to secure a “very, very special win”

Nasser said:

“Liverpool are the best club today in Europe, and they finished first in the group stage and are the Premier League leaders.

“We're very proud, to be honest. Respect to Liverpool: to beat them at Anfield is something amazing. The players showed their character and personality.

“We have one of the youngest if not the youngest team in Europe so to build to come here and show this character, personality... it's something amazing we're building.”

The Parisians made history on the night by becoming the first French club to win a European second-leg at Anfield

PSG also inflicted Liverpool’s first-ever defeat in a tie where they brought a first-leg lead back to Merseyside.

For Al-Khelaifi, last night’s victory vindicated the club’s decision to drop their ‘Galacticos’ approach in favour of promoting youth players

 Al-Khelaifi said: “Today and the last two years and especially to be honest this season, the star is the team.

“Everyone is repeating it; the coach, the players - amazing. If you ask me who is the best player today, I don't know - all of them.

“Trust me, if even we lost this match, my speech would be the same. Today we are in a quarter-final, we're not going to say we're going to win the Champions League today. But match by match, we are building something for the future. That's the most important.

“Everyone criticised us at the beginning of the season, saying we're not going to go through. But the mentality of the players, the coach, is that wherever we go, we're going to win

“We want to play offensively, we want to play our style against any team