Liverpool Eliminated from Europe by PSG in Penalty Shoot-Out at Anfield
Liverpool were knocked out of Europe by Paris St-Germain after a dramatic penalty shoot-out at the wrong end of Anfield, with many of the penalties not going in their favour.
After 120 minutes of high-quality football, during which Ousmane Dembélé equalised for PSG, the visitors won the coin toss and took the shoot-out to the Anfield Road end, where their supporters were. Liverpool’s fans were at the opposite end by the famous Kop. It was a tense shoot-out, and ultimately, it was Darwin Núñez and Curtis Jones who missed, both having their penalties saved by PSG’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who had been a nightmare for England at Euro 2020. Liverpool, who had been the dominant team in the Champions League earlier in the season, were eliminated in the last 16.
Despite being the leaders of the Premier League, Liverpool could not overcome the leaders of Ligue 1, PSG. The young French side pushed Liverpool to their limits in the first half. Then, Arne Slot’s team came back strong in the second half, but they couldn’t find the goal that would have turned the tie in their favour.
Liverpool skipper Virgil Van Dirk said at the end: “It was a very intense, great game, I think. Unfortunately, we’re out on penalties. We created dangerous moments in both halves, but it came down to penalties. I said it’s part of football. You can be disappointed, but we have to keep our heads up, focus on recovery, and get ready for the next challenge – and it’s a big one against Newcastle on Sunday.
“We always knew that when the draw came, it was going to be tough. We struggled in Paris, but we won there and were much better tonight. We had issues with one-on-one marking in Paris, but today, from the first minute until fatigue kicked in for both sides in extra time, I think we played a very good game.”
In the other games decided today, Barcelona progressed to the next round with a 3-1 second leg win over Benfica to sum a 4-1 aggregate score. Bayern Munich were 0-2 victors over Bayer Leverkusen while Inter Milan laboured to a 2-1 victory against Feyernord in Milan.
