IS this the week when Arne Slot’s Liverpool lose two legs of a potential Treble.
Because this was the worst of all worlds for the Reds as they suffered the heartbreak of a penalty shoot-out – after a shattering two hours of football to leave them with weary legs before Sunday’s Carabao Cup Final against Newcastle.
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Paris St Germain keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma – the man who thwarted England in the Euros final shoot-out of 2021 – saved from Anfield fall-guy Darwin Nunez and sub Curtis Jones to send his side into a likely Champions League quarter-final against Aston Villa next month.
Liverpool have won seven major finals on penalty shoot-outs, including two European Cups – but this was the night when their luck ended from 12 yards.
Over two legs, PSG deserved to progress – they battered Liverpool in an unlikely first-leg defeat then became only the second side this season to win at Anfield.
After a classic European tie between the champions-elect of England and the permanent kings of France, Slot’s side face an uphill struggle to regain energy for a Wembley showpiece at the weekend.
Ousmane Dembele prodded home the early goal which levelled the tie on aggregate and after several swings of the pendulum, Paris kept their nerve in the shoot-out.
Liverpool had taken a plastering from Paris in the first leg, only spared from a heavy defeat by their keeper Alisson playing like a cross between Lev Yashin and Jesus Christ.
It had been as good a performance any team could have produced without scoring from Luis Enrique’s men – only for sub Harvey Elliott to deck them with a late sucker blow.
Slot selected the same starting line-up that withstood that pummelling at the Parc des Princes and the visitors were unchanged too.
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Salah had been shackled by Nuno Mendes last week and he was denied an opener by the same player within five minutes – Alexis Mac Allister squared to the Egyptian whose shot was blocked over the bar by the PSG left-back.
Soon Salah was darting forward, exchanging passes with Diogo Jota and curling a shot narrowly wide.
Yet having created more in 11 minutes than they had in 90 last week, Liverpool conceded.
A Mendes pass found Dembele in space and he released Bradley Barcola, whose low ball to the near post caused chaos, Ibrahima Konate sliding in but wrong-footing Alisson, allowing Dembele to hurdle the prone keeper and tap in the loose ball.
It was Dembele’s 21st goal of this year – not this season. He is hotter even than Salah.
Konate, who ought to have been sent off early on in Paris, almost made amends for his defensive error by drilling a long-range shot which Gianluigi Donnarumma turned wide.
It was wild end-to-end stuff, Alisson off his line to pull off a decent save from Barcola.
Dembele ought to have given Paris the aggregate lead when Khvichka Kvaratskhelia – the winger who tormented Liverpool in France – released him with a sweet through-ball only for a poor touch to allow Alisson to smother.
Then it was Kvaratskhelia’s chance to spurn a golden opportunity, latching on to Barcola’s cut-back but blazing over.
Next, Dembele had a curling shot deflected wide and Liverpool were rocking.
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Ref Istvan Kovacs was consistently refusing to bend to the howling whines of The Kop and he turned down a penalty shout just before half-time when Fabian Ruiz had a kick at Dominik Szoboszlai on the edge of the box.
Still, Liverpool are renowned for upping their game in the second half and, straight after the restart, Marquinhos was booked for hauling down Luis Diaz as the hosts seized some momentum.
The Reds thought they had regained the lead when Trent Alexander-Arnold struck the inside of the post and Szoboszlai found the net, only for the linesman to stick up a flag and rule Diaz to have been offside earlier in the move.
This was far better from Slot’s side and Szoboszlai was soon thwarted again, his deflected wide by an excellent block from Pacho
From the resulting corner, Donnarumma used his vast wing-span to make a sprawling save from a Diaz header.
For the first time in the entire tie, PSG were seriously under the cosh, with Liverpool attacking in waves.
There was another decent penalty shout soon after – Alexander-Arnold’s pass releasing Salah, who pushed over on the edge of the box by Nunes – Kovacs unmoved again.
Slot sent on Darwin Nunez for Jota and Jarell Quansah slotted in at right-back after Alexander-Arnold was forced off through injury.
From an Andy Roberrson free-kick, Quansah headed against the inside of the post.
Nunez was adding a chaos factor up front and Diaz forced another decent save from Donnarumma before Kvaratskhelia went close on a rare PSG break.
In extra-time, the momentum swung back to Paris – subs Beraldo and Desire Doue both went close early on, then Alisson made a fine save to turn a Dembele shot wide.
But when it came to spot-kicks, Paris produced a perfect four from four as Donnarumma made the difference with two of his trademark swooping saves.
Liverpool may have to content themselves with the Premier League title this season – unless they can revitalise themselves for Sunday.
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