A vastly improved second-half performance couldn’t prevent Liverpool from losing to Paris Saint-Germain, as the French champions achieved something no other team has ever managed.
With the Reds coming home with a 1-0 lead, Liverpool fans were confident their team would reach the Champions League quarter-finals.
However, PSG showed they are the real deal as they overturned a first-leg home defeat to progress past Liverpool, becoming the first team ever, in 40 attempts, to manage the feat in Europe.
Liverpool played more than 210 minutes against PSG but could only really boast to being better for about 90 of those.
The Reds were perhaps underrated for their second-half display at the Parc des Princes, in which they didn’t concede any of what FotMob would describe as ‘big chances’.
Liverpool started the game brightly at Anfield but were still susceptible on the break and in the first half alone, allowed the opposition 2.03 expected goals (xG).
That is more than any team has managed across an entire match at Anfield this season.
The second half was a different story, though, as Liverpool dominated and remained on the front foot as PSG managed just 0.1xG.
Unfortunately, the Reds couldn’t capitalise on their front-foot style, hitting the inside of the post through Jarell Quansah and ultimately producing just two shots on target.
Liverpool were then unable to sustain the pressure in extra time, as PSG got back on top with an overwhelming amount of possession.
The subsequent penalty shootout saw the visitors score all four of their spot-kicks while just Mo Salah, playing his 73rd Champions League match for Liverpool, netted for Slot’s side.
Only Jamie Carragher, with 80 appearances, has played more times than Salah for Liverpool in the European Cup.
Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones both had their efforts saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma, with the latter becoming only the second Englishman, after John Terry, to miss in a Champions League era shootout, according to Opta.
A tie defined by goalkeepers
For all the exceptional attacking players on the pitch, it was the goalkeepers who defined the tie.
In the first leg, Alisson faced 27 shots, with his nine saves the most he has ever made in a game for Liverpool.
Only two other goalkeepers in the history of the Champions League era have made that many saves in a knockout match, both for Real Madrid.
They were Thibaut Courtois, against Liverpool in the 2022 final, and Andriy Lunin vs. RB Leipzig in February 2024.
While he wasn’t worked to the same extent, the Brazilian was again excellent in the second leg, producing a further seven stops.
This meant Alisson made 16 saves across both legs – the most by a goalkeeper in a European Cup knockout tie since Manuel Neuer for Bayern Munich, against Madrid in the 2016-17 quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, in the PSG net, 6’5″ Donnarumma was a commanding presence at Anfield and proved once again why he is one of the best penalty-savers in world football.
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