PSG Eliminated Liverpool: Our Luck Runs Out

JAKARTA - Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties in the second leg of the last 16 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Les Parisiens managed to win a normal time match in the second leg at Anfield with a score of 1-0. Ousmane Dembele created the only goal on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, early morning WIB.

The victory made the aggregate draw 1-1 so that the match on Merseyside had to be continued to the extension round. Unfortunately, no more goals were created which required a penalty shootout.

On penalties, PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma became a hero by denying Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones' kicks. While the visitors managed to take advantage of all their kicks.

Liverpool manager, Arne Slot, tried to have a big heart to accept defeat and still praised his team.

"I think it was the best football game I've ever played. We may run out of luck after last week."

"After 90 minutes we played the perfect game, but didn't score," Arne Slot said after the game.

Thousands of supporters who came to Anfield, many of them were shirtless despite the cold temperatures, not afraid to support them. They danced and sang until the final whistle sounded.

However, the supporters' full support was not enough to help Liverpool continue their journey in the Champions League.

However, the Reds did not want to bow for too long. They immediately focus on other matches, which still have the opportunity to give birth to trophies.

Liverpool don't have much time to rest because they will play the Carabao Cup final on the weekend against Newcastle United.

"It's part of football. I told the players, of course, you can be disappointed because we were eliminated from the tournament."

"However, keep the spirit and be prepared for the next challenge, a beautiful challenge at the weekend," Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said.

Meanwhile, PSG will meet the winner between Aston Villa vs Club Brugge in the quarter-finals.

Currently, Villa is 3-1 ahead and will only undergo a second leg match on Thursday, March 13, 2025, early morning WIB.

Tight And Tense Match

Dembele surprised Anfield's audience with his goal in the 12th minute. The goal started with Ibrahima Konate's attempt to launch to stem a Bradley Barcola pass, but the ball moved away from goalkeeper Alisson.

Dembele only needed to kick it into an empty net because Konate's maneuvers made it collide with Alisson and the ball went wild.

The goal was Liverpool's earliest goal at Anfield in the Champions League since September 2017 against Sevilla.

Arne Slot's side played much better than the previous week when they needed a last-minute goal from substitute Harvey Elliott after PSG dominated.

The Reds mainstay Mohamed Salah fired a shot that Nuno Mendes blocked on the line in the early minutes of the match.

Donnarumma was forced to make a save by dropping early in the game to block Konate's shot, but both teams squandered chances in a tense match.

Liverpool controlled the PSG area for most of the second half of normal time. They had scored a goal through Dominik Szoboszlai, but were ruled out for offside at the start of the second half.

The Reds then kept Donnarumma busy in the final minutes. The goalkeeper parried the ball after the ball that was fired into the box.

Despite the pressure, PSG had one golden opportunity at the end of the match which almost doubled their lead. Dembele fired a shot that looked like a winning goal in injury time, but Alisson made a dramatic save by dropping himself to make the ball wide with his finger.

PSG then played very solid under pressure on penalties, with Vitinha, Goncalo Ramos, Dembele, and Desire Doue scoring goals.

Liverpool actually started the penalty well. Salah threw the ball into the net, but Nunez and Jones managed to stop his shot by Donnarumma.