Paris Saint-Germain booked their place in the quarterfinals of the Champions League after beating Liverpool on penalties, having won the second leg 1-0 to level the tie on aggregate.
Ousmane Dembélé scored inside 12 minutes, despite a dominant start from the hosts at Anfield. It drew PSG level in the tie following Liverpool’s victory at the Parc des Princes last week.
In the build-up to kickoff, the advertising boards displayed the UEFA slogan: “Nights we’ll never forget.” It was, of course, a piece of clever marketing, but the sentiment proved prophetic as Liverpool and PSG produced a pulsating encounter that will surely go down in Champions League lore.
Mohamed Salah spurned a number of early chances for Arne Slot’s side, opening the door for Dembele to finish from close range after a miscommunication between goalkeeper Alisson Becker and defender Ibrahima Konaté. Over the course of the game, Alisson — the standout in Paris last week — again made a number of fine saves. PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma made a magnificent stop to keep out a Luis DÃaz header.
Liverpool were unlucky and saw substitute Jarell Quansah hit the post, and Dominik Szoboszlai had an effort ruled out for offside. But PSG were deserving of the victory over the two legs, with Désiré Doué hammering home the winning penalty after misses from Darwin Núñez and Curtis Jones. — Beth Lindop
Dembélé, Donnarumma go from critics’ targets to heroes
The spotlight for PSG after Tuesday’s big win was one shared by Dembélé and Donnarumma.
One wanted his redemption after missing so many chances to score in the first leg in Paris last week. The other wanted to atone after his mistake cost his team a goal last week.
After facing their share of criticism after their first-leg loss to Liverpool, Dembélé and Donnarumma turned it around to become the PSG stalwarts in the second leg.
Dembélé scored a precious goal and was a constant threat for the Liverpool defense. He also hurried his penalty line as big players can do in moments like these.
At the other end of the field, Donnarumma made only three saves in 120 minutes, a sign of Liverpool’s inability to really create much, but it’s in the penalty shootout where he wrote his legend. Two huge saves against Núñez and Jones won the game for his club.
Big games belong to big players and on Tuesday night, Dembélé and Donnarumma were not just big, they were gargantuan. — Julien Laurens
Núñez miss sums up Liverpool frustration
There are few players in recent memory who have polarized opinion quite as much as Núñez.
The Uruguay international has thrilled and frustrated in equal measure during his 2½ seasons at Anfield, following his initial £64 million move from Benfica in the summer of 2022. Núñez’s profligacy in front of goal and erratic temperament have made his exit at the end of the season feel like a foregone conclusion, but there has remained a sense that he still has a few more chapters to write on Merseyside before departing.
Unfortunately for him, and for Liverpool, his latest entry into the the club’s history books is one to forget, as he saw his penalty saved by Donnarumma, paving the way for PSG to triumph in the shootout.
It was hard not to feel for the 25-year-old as he trudged back toward his teammates at midfield, but ultimately the incident serves as a pretty neat encapsulation of his Liverpool career to date. Having come off the bench to replace Diogo Jota in the second half, Núñez struggled to affect the match and, in the eyes of some, it was his penalty miss that will shape at least part of his Anfield legacy. — Lindop
PSG win the midfield battle
Games from teams of this quality are often won in midfield, more than anywhere else in the pitch. For two teams who need control to put their game in place, winning the midfield battle is key. And once again, the PSG midfield was superior.
It was not as one-sided as in the first leg when Vitinha, João Neves and Fabián Ruiz walked all over Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch. But as this second leg went on, they became more and more dominant.
Their composure on the ball and their movement and passing were exceptional throughout, even under pressure. They pressed and counter-pressed well again, with intensity and intelligence. They never stopped running, working hard and demanding the ball.
Neves is only 20, Vitinha 25, and they bossed both games. Vitinha touched the ball 136 times Tuesday and made 103 of the 111 passes he tried. Exceptional. When you have players like them in your team, they make everything easy. — Laurens
Liverpool must shake off loss for Carabao Cup final
Ahead of the visit of Southampton last Saturday, Slot described this week for Liverpool as one of “three cup finals” for his side.
Despite falling behind, the Reds battled to a 3-1 victory over Southampton that extended their advantage at the top of the Premier League to what is surely — even with Arsenal‘s game in hand — an insurmountable 15 points.
Liverpool’s Champions League exit Tuesday is a bruising blow for a team that has largely swept all before it this term. But Liverpool must now pick themselves up and regroup ahead of this weekend’s Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United, or else risk letting another trophy slip through their grasp.
Perhaps the biggest concern for Liverpool ahead of the trip to Wembley is the fact that Trent Alexander-Arnold is surely set to sit out after limping off because of a knee injury in the second half against PSG. Konate also had to be substituted in extra time.
It will require an enormous mental and physical effort to mount a suitably strong performance against Newcastle on Sunday. But — on this season’s evidence — if any team can do it, Liverpool can. — Lindop
PSG are front-runners now to win Champions League
This felt like a final for PSG — two finals, actually. And PSG won them both based on performance in the first leg and actual result in the second.
After knocking out mighty Liverpool, especially with a second leg at Anfield, the expectation for PSG now is to go all the way. The Parisians are the best team in Europe right now — not just because of the way they play, but because they have beaten the best team in Europe.
They didn’t fear Liverpool and they won’t fear anyone else from here — not Aston Villa or Brugge, not Real Madrid, Atletico or Arsenal, their potential opponents in the quarterfinals and beyond. And none of these teams will want to play PSG either.
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How PSG have become stronger contenders without Kylian Mbappe
Ale Moreno says the departure of Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid has enabled Luis Enrique to turn PSG into a stronger team overall.
How far can PSG really go? The aim was not to win the Champions League this season. This is just Year 1 of this post-Kylian Mbappé project. The goal was to win it in Year 3. Yet, this young team learned a lot from last season and the disappointment of losing to Dortmund in the semifinals after hitting the woodwork six times in two games.
The team has a different mentality this season and a much better understanding of Luis Enrique’s demanding tactics. PSG have Dembélé, the most in-form player in the world. They have Vitinha, the best midfielder in the world right now. And they want to dominate all the time to control every part of a game and they believe they can beat everyone, including Liverpool at Anfield. — Laurens
Champions League format change did Liverpool no favors
There has been plenty of debate in recent months about whether the new Champions League format has been a success.
Anyone who had the pleasure of watching this mouth-watering round-of-16 tie between Liverpool and PSG might argue that it has, considering the change of format was geared toward delivering more marquee fixtures over the course of the competition.
But from a Liverpool perspective, there has been precious little reward for the club’s tremendous form in the league phase. Slot’s side won seven of its eight games in the league phase, only losing to PSV Eindhoven once qualification was confirmed.
Along the way, Liverpool beat the champions of Spain and the champions of Germany, without conceding a goal, and yet they were drawn against one of the most difficult remaining opponents in the last 16.
“It is something now to take into consideration how much worth it is to finish first in the league table when you face PSG in the next round,” Slot said after the match.
Of course, knockout football can be cruel, regardless of competition format. But when you consider Aston Villa, for example — who finished eighth in the league phase — were drawn against Club Brugge, it’s easy to see why those of a Liverpool persuasion might feel a little hard done by. — Lindop
