‘The best game’

OLI SCARFF/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES▲ 

Darwin Núñez (centre) and his Liverpool teammates 

are left to ponder what might have been after their exit

Slot praises quality of play despite ‘shock’ loss

12 Mar 2025 - The Guardian

Andy Hunter - Anfield

Arne Slot described Liverpool’s Champions League exit as the finest game of his career after Paris Saint-Germain stunned Anfield with victory in a penalty shootout.

The Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma proved the decisive figure in the last-16 second leg with penalty saves from Darwin Núñez and Curtis Jones. The game had gone to extra time and penalties after Ousmane Dembélé’s winner cancelled out Liverpool’s first-leg lead from Paris. PSG converted all * four of their penalties in a flawless shootout display.

Slot admitted he was shocked by Liverpool’s exit but could not have asked for more from his team. “That was the best game of football I’ve ever been involved in,” the Liverpool head coach said. “Two teams of an incredible level and intensity, it was unbelievable what we showed in the first 25 minutes. Over 90 minutes I don’t think we deserved to lose. Over 180 minutes maybe it was deserved that it went to overtime and in overtime I thought maybe PSG were better than us.

“Of course it is shock but if you have to go out, go out the way we did against one of the best teams in Europe and by making such a fight of it. I hope every fan around the world was hoping this game wouldn’t stop because it was incredible. For us it is so unlucky to finish No 1 in the group and then face PSG.”

Liverpool are likely to be without Trent Alexander-Arnold for the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle on Sunday after he was forced off with an injury. Ibrahima Konaté was also withdrawn but Slot confirmed that was due to fatigue.

Luis Enrique, the PSG head coach, hailed the victory as a momentous step for his team as they attempt to win the club’s first Champions League title. “I think it is really significant moment for us, for the players and the supporters,” he said.

“Either of the two teams could have gone through. We both deserved to go through but we deserved it slightly more, especially in the first game.

“We showed what sort of team we are. We have huge strength of character, personality, and we are a team who go out to play their own football.

“There were times when Liverpool had the upper hand and were slightly better than us but we never gave up attacking. The first game belonged to Alisson, the second game belonged to Donnarumma.”

***

Donnarumma’s heroics shatter Liverpool hopes

12 Mar 2025 - The Guardian

Andy Hunter

Luis Enrique exploded across the Anfield pitch when Désiré Doué struck the winning penalty and was still leaping on Paris Saint-Germain players and officials when they headed down the tunnel five minutes later. The reaction of someone who knows that one of the biggest obstacles to PSG’s designs on a first Champions League title is out of the way.

Liverpool suffered a role reversal in an epic last 16 second-leg tie at Anfield and their hopes of a seventh European crown are gone as a consequence. The home side were superior, profligate and lost 1-0, just as PSG did at Parc des Princes last week. The visiting goalkeeper again emerged the hero with Gianluigi Donnarumma, not Alisson, taking the acclaim after saving from Darwin Núñez and Curtis Jones in a penalty shootout. Ousmane Dembélé had levelled the tie on aggregate with an early goal but Liverpool had numerous chances to advance before the necessary spot-kicks.

PSG’s spot-kicks were flawless. Vitinha, brilliant all night, Gonçalo Ramos, Dembélé and finally Doué made no mistake at the Anfield Road end housing their own boisterous supporters. Mohamed Salah was the only Liverpool player to convert in the shootout but his performance over 120 minutes was wasteful in the extreme. The penalty for failing to make home superiority count in the two legs was ultimately paid by Liverpool. Donnarumma, the man who broke English hearts in the 2020 European Championship final, proved the big man for the big penalty occasion once again.

The billing as a collision of the finest two teams in Europe was not an exaggeration. It was gripping, high-octane, high-calibre football from the start. Arne Slot claimed it was the best game of football he had been involved in. It will also rank among the most painful.

The opening 12 minutes were the first leg in reverse. The dominator became the dominated as Liverpool started with an intensity and threat that was almost entirely absent at Parc des Princes. Alexis Mac Allister presented Salah with a glorious chance to open the scoring and double Liverpool’s aggregate lead with four minutes gone. Bursting onto Dominik Szoboszlai’s intelligent lay-off and into the box the midfielder squared to the better-placed forward rather than shooting himself. Salah seemed certain to score from close range but his shot struck Nuno Mendes and deflected over. Moments later Salah left the PSG left-back in a heap near the half-way line, surged into the area and curled wide. Such are the world class standards the Egypt international has set for himself, you expected him to score.

The contrast with the first leg not only extended to Liverpool’s performance. PSG, so assured and composed until running into Alisson last week, were rattled initially. Willian Pacho, Achraf Hakimi and Donnarumma all poured oil on a fiery atmosphere by playing routine passes straight into touch. And having failed to score from 27 attempts in the first leg, PSG promptly scored from their opening attempt of the second leg.

Mendes played a low diagonal ball from left back that caught out the entire Liverpool midfield. Dembélé collected in space and released Bradley Barcola down the right, who attempted to return a cross to the inform striker as he sprinted into the area. Ibrahima Konaté got there first but succeeded only in nudging Barcola’s delivery around Alisson and towards his own goal. Dembélé was left with a simple tap-in.

Alisson made important saves from Barcola and Dembélé in the first half. The France international picked out Khvicha Kvaratskhelia unmarked inside the Liverpool area from the byline. The Georgia international’s blistering effort was destined for the top corner until a Ryan Gravenberch toe diverted it over. A Dembélé strike was also deflected just wide.

Liverpool regained control immediately after the restart with Trent Alexander-Arnold more prominent. Donnarumma produced a fine save to claw away Luis Díaz’s glancing header from a Mac Allister corner. Mendes blocked a goalbound drive from Szoboszlai and both Salah and Díaz failed to capitalise from a promising counterattack.

Alexander-Arnold was forced out of the tie and probably Sunday’s Carabao Cup final when injuring himself in a challenge on Vitinha. His replacement, Jarell Quansah, twice came close to heading Liverpool into the quarter-finals. Quansah’s first attempt from another Mac Allister corner sailed just over. His second, from an Andy Robertson free-kick, beat Donnarumma but struck the inside of a post.

Donnarumma was forced to take evasive action repeatedly as Liverpool exerted constant pressure in the closing stages of normal time. The PSG threat had been virtually nonexistent in the second half but they were the more dangerous side in extra time. Doué, a potent replacement for Barcola, was centimetres away from a crucial second goal. Alisson saved brilliantly when Dembélé aimed for his bottom corner. PSG swarmed over Liverpool in the final stages but reserved their punishment until the shootout. As Enrique cavorted on the Anfield pitch, Slot was left to ponder what might have been.