Paris Saint-Germain ran out comfortable winners again versus Liverpool in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final, as a 2-0 victory at Anfield saw Luis Enrique’s men defeat another Premier League team with ease, to reach the semi-final stages of Europe’s competition.
Heading into the match, much of the narrative surrounded Liverpool constantly being able to work up some magic in Europe, to overturn a tie that felt dead and buried.
It happened versus Barcelona in 2019, as a 3-0 defeat was quickly forgotten about, as Jurgen Klopp guided the Merseyside giants to an unbelievable 4-0 victory.
But history didn’t repeat itself here, even if Liverpool did put in somewhat of a battling performance in the first half.
Indeed, Arne Slot‘s hosts weren’t completely played off the park in the first half, with the best chance of an uneventful first 45 minutes actually falling to the hosts.
Liverpool very nearly got the better of a stern Matvéi Safónov in the PSG net, but Marquinhos would expertly deny a scramble in the area, to ensure the scoreline remained at 0-0.
Giorgi Mamardashvili was also kept busy in the Reds goal, as he denied the likes of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele in quick succession, with the tricky Frenchman also blazing a glorious opening over the bar.
All in all, Liverpool would have trudged off at the end of the first half, pleased with their efforts, if slightly irked that Hugo Ekitike had to come off mid-way through the first 45 minutes, owing to a serious-looking injury.
Clutching onto his Achilles in agony, Mohamed Salah would come on in his place, desperate to help his team pull off an unbelievable comeback.
Half-time: Liverpool 0-0 PSG
Slot reshuffled his pack further, heading into a vital second half, with both Cody Gakpo and Joe Gomez being introduced to the contest at the half-time mark, in place of Alexander Isak and Jeremie Frimpong.
It led to Slot’s side starting the second half more on the front foot, but they couldn’t grab an all-important goal to kickstart a comeback.
They were awarded a penalty on the 65th minute mark, when Willian Pacho was judged to have fouled Alexis Mac Allister inside the penalty area, but that decision was later overturned by VAR, to the dismay of the Anfield masses watching on.
The game just felt as if it was slipping away from the Reds, and only seven minutes on from VAR overturning the hosts’ spot-kick, Dembele put the two-legged affair beyond doubt when emphatically smashing home the opener on the night.
He then quickly followed it up this blistering effort with a second in added-on time, right at the end of the game, as the ex-Barcelona attacker was teed up by second-half substitute Bradley Barcola.
Salah clapped off supporters at the end of the contest, knowing that it was his last ever run out in Europe’s blockbuster competition for the Reds.
Full time: Liverpool 0-2 PSG
Liverpool’s miserable season just continues on
In truth, it was a very underwhelming second leg from a Liverpool perspective, considering the glory of previous years when the Reds had pulled off the unthinkable.
Instead, it was an all too predictable defeat to place next to Slot’s ever-growing collection for the season, with no silverware coming home to Merseyside at the close of the campaign.
