It was a tie that always seemed to have the potential for thrills. And Liverpool vs Paris Saint-Germain were not disappointed.
Following 1-0 from last week’s first leg of the French capital, PSG led his return fixtures to an extended period thanks to Osmane Dembele’s early goals, then became a penalty after being punished for tense 30 minutes.
From there, Gianluigi Donnarumma was a hero and saved him from Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones as PSG scored a 4-1 victory at Spot Kicks to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Our experts analyse key discussion points from Anfield.
How the gunfight drama unfolded
The mental battle has already won towards a penalty shootout, meaning PSG could shoot at his fans at the unfield road end.
The first step up for Luis Enrique’s side was Vicinha, who made an uttering noise before sending calmly past Allison.
Naturally, penalty specialist Mohamed Sara was the first Liverpool player on the list, converting along with Aprem to Donalma’s right.
Goncaro Ramos only came out in the final minute of extra time, so he did a light penalty job with a low slot finish on the right side of Allison’s goal.
Things then changed for Liverpool. Darwin Nunes’ poor luck this season continued, and he worked hard to the left of Donal Mama, but it was good enough for Italian International to clear the Palm.
The Ottoman Dembele finish was the best bunch that was pounded in the top right corner before Curtis Jones couldn’t make any more ground for Liverpool. He shot low to the left, but a strong right hand from Donnaruma was enough to stop his efforts from entering the bottom corner.
Desire Doue sent the PSG to the final eight and added his own powerful strike to break Anfield Hearts.
Heading into tonight’s match, Liverpool won four of their five penalty shootouts in the European competition. Make four out of six.
Mark Carry
Desies Doue wins a decisive penalty (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
Liverpool was hurt… but we can’t afford to nod.
This was a perfect game for the final, so distance was a measure of talent within both teams.
Liverpool and PSG were spectacularly set up to fight each other through two closely inclusive legs, which resulted in a high-quality encounter with fewer fouls and a small amount of mistakes. That makes little sense for the loser in the end. This defeat comes as a bruise setback in Liverpool’s push to treble.
It would hurt even if you lose to PSG due to a penalty. Particularly because the coach’s slot sides showed such a ferocious form in the league phase stage, finishing top of the table with 36 teams and being unfortunate in a draw to land such a high-level opponent in the 16 rounds.
But now they have to find a way to move on as the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United in the Wembley Room on Sunday, and that game is now very important. It is essential for Liverpool to pick up themselves and secure their first trophy under the slot.
The Premier League concludes with nine games in total, but it’s important that this talented side is showing up for the season, not just the title. This Champions League exit is painful, but there are still brighter times than we look forward to.
Greg Evans
How good is PSG?
In building this second leg, Slot said PSG was “the best performing team in Europe so far this season.” Perhaps Liverpool had 15 points clear at the top of the Premier League, 15 points clear in the Champions League phase, and the French side had to have three wins to have three wins to make the playoffs in 15th place.
Oousmane Dembele scores in Anfield (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
However, the young PSG team grew impressively as Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich were beaten in their first five matches in a slow start to their European campaign. They were innocent with two legs very well against Liverpool. It was extremely unfortunate to be beaten 1-0 in the first leg and brought this tie into the wire before winning the penalty shootout.
Their recruitment over the past few seasons has been outstanding: the signings of Vitinha, Nuno Mendes, Willian Pacho, Bradley Barcola, Joao Neves, Desire Doue and now Khvicha Kvaratskhelia representing a change of direction after what club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi disparagingly called their “flashy bling-bling” period with Neymar, Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos and company.
Their progress towards the semi-finals last season looked slightly deceptive, but under Luis Enrique’s leadership, they appear to be the strength they can think of now. Will this be the year of the Champions League at last?
The evidence from the past few months will stop them some.
Oliver Kay
Alexander Arnold and Connete are hit by injuries
The sight of Trent Alexander Arnold links the pitch later in normal times, similarly in the second season when fellow Liverpool defender Ibrahima Conete was blackmailed far beyond this tie.
Judging by Alexander Arnold’s clear discomfort, the 26-year-old Liverpool vice captain will roam the pitch towards the tunnel after falling awkwardly and holding his ankle, facing a fitting battle for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.
Trent Alexander Arnold is injured (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
He also missed the final against Chelsea last season, particularly considering the increased chances that this will be his final season at Liverpool, there is no agreement with a new Madrid and Real Madrid turn.
Depending on the nature of the injury, the schedule may provide you with a desire. Sunday will be Liverpool’s final match until April 2nd, with an international break. Alexander Arnold wanted positive news, but looked worried.
If Alexander Arnold doesn’t recover as Joe Gomez and Connor Bradley are already injured, Jarrell Quanza is a popular starter at Wembley.
The Konate issue is also a concern for the slot, with the French defender hoving after two downs on injuries. Liverpool’s head coach hopes it’s not as serious as things come.
Oliver Kay
Why did Dembele cause so many problems?
To say that Osmane Dembele is the best form of his career would be an understatement.
Already in 2025 in all competitions, 21 goals for the 27-year-old in 2025 are most of all players in Europe’s top five leagues, and his close-range tap-in on Tuesday is undoubtedly the easiest lot.
I know that Dembele’s versatility means he can play anywhere on the frontline of PSG. What’s less credited in Dembele’s game is that PSG tends to fall into the midfield area and create overloads as it appears to get out of pressure.
This was on display throughout the game, but was particularly noteworthy when Dembele was registered to that only goal after 12 minutes after gathering the ball at the half line and then moved forward to release Bradleaver Cola backward.
Asked about Virgil Van Dijk’s defense, Dembele can receive the ball in so many spaces. Wayne Rooney called it “lazy” in the report of the UK match on Amazon Prime – but the PSG midfielder was Nuno Mendes’s pass.
As long as Van Dijk (circled in red above) followed by Dembele (circled in white), he fell deep to collect the ball, the gap PSG could only exploit.
Sometimes we have to trust intelligent play, and Dembele’s elusive, slippery style was a constant threat throughout, both horizontally and vertically.
Mark Carry
The drought in Jota continues
Dio Gojota’s goal drought in the Champions League continued as he spent another frustrating night in front of the goal.
The Portuguese striker has been tasked with leading Liverpool’s line in his biggest Test so far this season at Anfield, with a clear chance that he wasted early in the first half. To rise and meet the horns of the Zuuugi, Jota fails to test Gianluigi Donnaruma as he heads for the crossbar.
Leading by Diogo Jota (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
It set a deep, frustrating night tone. His clever moves early in the second half helped him keep PSG on the hind legs, and although he worked hard defensively, he couldn’t get another opportunity to score. His night was put together when he handed the ball in his final meaningful action before replacing it with Darwin Nunes in 73 minutes.
Jota set off after touching the ball 33 times, the least among Liverpool players, giving him a second passing accuracy rate of 71%.
Currently in 17 games without a Champions League goal, one of the most recent ones were 2-0 wins over Atletico Madrid in November 2021. This is an amazing sequence for a player who is often cited as one of Liverpool’s most talented natural finishers.
When asked about the drought leading up to Tuesday’s game, Jota said: “The statistics are part of today’s game, but they’re not saying it all. I want to score, but that’s not a factor that affects my game.”
It may be true, but the striker lives for his goals – and Jota needs some.
Greg Evans
What did you say about slots?
Liverpool’s head coach was generous in the defeat and praised the quality of PSG’s performance.
“This was the best football game I’ve ever been involved in,” he told Amazon Prime. “Incredible performance, especially compared to last week. For the first 20-25 minutes, we were on top of them and created a chance after the chance. Suddenly, we went down 1-0. With the exception of our goals, we played the perfect game. The same was true last week when PSG played the perfect game and didn’t score. Today happened to us.
“It’s always hard if you’re trying so hard. In the first 25 minutes I’ve never seen them as aggressive and intense as today. In the end, it comes down to penalties and we know how to lose (by penalty) as the Netherlands!
“I feel it’s unfair to go out this round. You’re at the top of the table and face a team like PSG, but that’s also the good part of football. Now it’s clear what we have to do for the rest of the season. We’re going out to one League Cup final and nine Premier League matches.”
What did Luis Enrique say?
The PSG manager shared slot’s view that the tie was a classic European contest, but welcomed the “personality and character” on his part.
“Both teams deserve to go to the next stage,” Luis Enrique told Amazon Prime. “They play better than us here, but I think my team at Anfield, a special stadium, showed great personality and personality. We tried to do our best, but they were so intense that it was difficult.
“We need to be good at certain moments, not about consistency. We did a lot in Paris (in the first leg), but football becomes that way. Sometimes unfair. Today we were lucky – they posted a few times. We are happy and confident in going to the next stage.”
What’s next for Liverpool?
Sunday, March 16th: Newcastle United (Wembley Stadium), Carabao Cup Final, 4:30pm, 12:30pm
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(Photo above: Julian Finney/Getty Images)
