The UEFA Champions League is undeniably the best club tournament in football and the opening nights not only hold an embarrassment of riches but also the promise of the discovering of the true pinnacle of the game. At first, it seems like all 32 teams have a chance of winning; even the minnows who qualify on some kind of coefficient technicality are imbued with an underdog spirit by virtue of being present. It's only once the wildness of the group stages falls away and the knockout rounds arrive that the Champions League really reveals itself to be about defining the haves and the have nots.

As witnessed in the final of the 2017/18 Champions League, Liverpool are have nots. Of course, to get to the final, you have to have something special but the dastardly ways of Sergio “Patrick Bateman” Ramos proved that, as is always the case, the poorer teams lack the depth needed to win at the tail end of the season. A judo throw on Mo Salah sent him off with a separated shoulder and a short elbow on Loris Karius gave him the concussion that likely caused the howlers that let Real cruise to victory. Whether you are a fan of them or not, the sight of Karius in tears, apologizing to the fans for errors he likely didn't even know he had made is one of the saddest the sport has ever seen.

And it's with this in mind that Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool started their latest Champions League campaign – or, as seen by the explosive opening chapter, out of mind. Liverpool took it to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), the Ligue 1 champions, from the opening whistle and dominated with a trademark Klopp gegenpress. For the first half of the first half, the ball nary strayed from the PSG half; any time the French made a move, a Red player was there to intercept and send it back towards goal. The play field was so narrow that by the end of the first 20 minutes, Liverpool had six corners.

The problem, however, with this type of play is that it is tiring. If it is sustained, energy levels start to drop; if it fails to produce goals, mental fatigue sets in. By the 20th minute, with the score still 0-0, Liverpool's vice grip began to loosen and PSG fought out from the back. Both Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria began movements they couldn't finish and, just as confidence seemed to be returning, a looping cross almost out of nowhere is caught from close range by Daniel Sturridge and headed past keeper Alphonse Areola.

It was a canny move, sneaking in between the lines when PSG had thought they were safe and it visibly unnerved the already shaky PSG. Sensing this, Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold bombed up the pitch, creating chaos and knocking rival players entirely out of position. Not even five minutes after making it 1-0, Juan Bernat lunged at Georgino Wijnaldum as he entered the box, giving Liverpool a penalty that was calmly converted by James Milner.

They say 2-0 is the worst lead in football because it's here that teams need to decide if they will stick or twist: it isn't enough of a lead to prevent a major comeback but there's enough daylight to make teams believe they no longer have to hanker down and protect the lead. Liverpool, perhaps in the midst of deciding what to do, gave Di Maria another chance to send the ball across their goal line. Having missed everyone, it ended up in front of right-footed defender Thomas Meunier who swung at it with his left towards the near post catching everyone – Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker included – off guard, making it 2-1 just before half time.

This kind of singular moment is what Paris Saint-Germain are best known for. As a wholly manufactured team propped up by Qatari oil money, emblazoned with an icon from a totally different sport, they are a who's who of players who didn't fit in at the previous clubs but are also too young to go to Major League Soccer or the Superlig. A front three of Neymar Jr., Edinson Cavani and World Cup superstar Mbappe is formidable on paper but a mix of three different but still huge egos that all want to be the star. Manager Thomas Tuchel was Klopp's protege at Borussia Dortmund – everybody's second team because they're fun and very rarely win trophies – and, like everyone else on the field for PSG, immensely talented but, also like everyone on the field for PSG, unsuited to his surroundings; he's managing 11 players rather than a cohesive unit and as such, his tactics tend to be of the extremely limiting “get the ball to X” variety.

The second half was played at a much slower pace, yet this in and of itself was remarkable. If PSG had only one mode to work with, Klopp was showing he had options and started playing the long game and holding possession. The attacking trio of Salah, Sturridge and Sadio Mane were left to do as they wished as PSG backed off, making it seem like they had given in. Alexander-Arnold was unplayable on the right wing and a third Liverpool goal seemed inevitable, and it almost happened around the hour mark but Salah's tap in was disallowed because of Sturridge's rough follow through on the keeper.

And PSG still didn't kick it into a higher gear. Tuchel, a vision of serenity on the sidelines, almost seemed like a man resigned to his fate as a figurehead less than a whole game into his first Champions League season with a quote-unquote big club. By the 85th minute, Liverpool were playing without a care in the world and Salah, who had already lost a sloppy pass through midfield moments earlier to Presnel Kimpembe, did the exact same thing again, only this time it was intercepted by Neymar Jr. Invisible for the other 89 minutes of the game, he materialized here to sprint at the Liverpool goal, beyond a bemused Virgil Van Dijk and into the feet of Mbappe who sent it past Alisson for an unearned 2-2.

Tuchel's celebration contained enough surprise that this was very much Liverpool's mistake and not a masterclass in 4D footballing strategy but Liverpool, at Anfield, on a European night, with their back against the wall, have a habit of producing magic and, with The Kop on their feet, refused to surrender with only a point. Roberto Firmino, who only came on as a substitute in the 70th minute for Sturridge, and Xerdan Shaqiri, on after the equaliser to prevent anymore Salah slip-ups, gave Liverpool a new burst of energy – the kind that PSG lacked throughout – and in the first minute of injury time, the Brazilian, deemed unfit to play only 24 hours earlier because of an eye injury, smashed it home to make it 3-2 and secure three points in the table.

In the Champions League, the richer teams always succeed and in this first fixture, PSG proved to be the exception to the rule – or they would if they played like a team. Liverpool, on the other hand, are already firing on all cylinders and looking to avenge themselves. Based on this performance, they just might.