Liverpool is out of the Champions League after Paris Saint-Germain got history to strike them on sanctions at Anfield.
PSG was aiming to become the first team ever to knock Liverpool out of a European draw after the reds won the first legs away from home and achieved the bang from the scene after Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones saw sanctions rescued by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The French masters came into it with a 1-0 deficit from the game in Paris last week, but Ousmane Dembele smooths it early in the game from close range, and unlikely it ended 1-1 on the overall with none of the pages able to find the net again.
Arne Slot’s side could count unfortunate not to score, Mohamed Salah is missing two presentable options before Dembele’s goals and Dominik Szoboszlai, which had a goal not allowed for offside. Jarell Quansah came closest and his header came back from the inside of the position.
But PSG was worthy of their victory over the two legs and will now play the winner of Aston Villa and Club Brugge in the last eight.
Slot’s job is to pick up its players for the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, Nunez and Jones included, while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate went out to the wound. The Premier League title is waiting, but Liverpool’s European dream is over for this season.
Slot: Best game ever involved in
Liverpool head coach Arne Castle talking at the press conference:
“It was the best football game I was ever involved in. I don’t have Liverpool’s story as manager. Two teams at an incredible level.
“This was incredible what we showed in the first 25 minutes. Over 90 minutes, I don’t think we deserved to lose this football game today. Over 180 minutes, I think it was deserving that we went to overtime. On overtime PSG was a little better than us.
“Of course it’s a shock. Maybe it’s not the moment to tell them now, but last season we weren’t involved in the Champions League. If you have to go out, go out how we did to one of the best teams in Europe and fight for it.”
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Adam Bate joins Vinny O’Connor to discuss Liverpool’s Champions League output to PSG on sanctions at Anfield.
Van Dijk: It was there for Liverpool
Liverpool Captain Virgil van Dijk talking to Amazon Prime Video:
“It was a very intense, amazing football game to be a part of. It was totally there for Liverpool, with what we showed in Paris. In Paris we fought, but we won. Today we saw a very good Liverpool side, but we are out of the competition.”
Unfinished business for Liverpool?
There will be tremendous frustration in Liverpool because it all seemed to go into this game. With the hard work that had apparently been done in Paris, they were well placed for a likely draw with Aston Villa, for which they would have been heavy favorites.
As Luis Enrique, the PSG coach, had said it in advance, ‘The one who wins will go through to the final, I have no doubt.’ Whether he is right or not, it will not now be Liverpool. With the title all safe, the Carabao Cup final suddenly becomes their biggest game back.
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In a speech after Liverpool’s defeat against PSG on sanctions on Anfield in the Champions League, Paul Merson suggested that the biggest winners of the game be Newcastle United in front of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.
They will certainly do it without Trent Alexander-Arnold, though Castle played the apparent damage to Ibrahima Konate. But how will Darwin Nunez feel after this unlucky como, also Curtis Jones? The challenge will be to focus the mind again.
Perspective also required. The award for the Premier League title, which never won in front of fans, is massive for Liverpool – and more than they could have hoped in August. It is precisely that the topping of the League of the Champions League promised even more …
Luis Enrique: Both teams deserved to go through
Paris Saint-Germain Main coach Luis Enrique is talking to Amazon Prime Video:
“It doesn’t matter if we deserve the victory. Both teams deserved to go through. We were better in Paris and they were better here. My team showed great personality and character at Anfield. The atmosphere was great and it was tough.
“When the draw came out as Liverpool against Paris, both leaders thought the same: one of the best games you can see in Europe. The Champions League has nothing to do with consistency. You have to be big in moments. We suffered a lot. They suffered a lot.”
Player of the match: Gianluigi Donnarumma
Football is a weird game. Alisson wins the player of the match in Paris, but six days later, and it is his opposite number of Donnarumma who goes away with the award in Liverpool, where his two penalties save after taking PSG into the quarterfinals of the competition.
Donnarumma pushed a few shots away from danger over the 120 minutes, but his clean sheet owed a lot to the defensive work for them in front of him – not least Nuno Mendes, who – again – Marshalled Salah better than anyone has in the Premier League.
Nunez telegraphed his punishment a bit, but it was firmly hit and required an impressive stop from the Italian goalkeeper. His stops to keep Jones’ efforts out in the other direction all except for the fate of Liverpool. Another game for the goalkeepers.