The difference that won the Ballon d’Or.
Ousmane Dembele scored twice as Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain progressed to the semi-finals and condemned Liverpool to a sideless season with a 2-0 win at Anfield.
PSG held a 2-0 advantage in the first leg of their quarter-final and, despite having to press for much of the second half in the return leg, Luis Enrique’s men were tasked with setting up a final clash with Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
Liverpool lost Hugo Ekitike to what appeared to be a serious injury in the first half and, after fellow Frenchman Desire Doue was fouled for PSG’s second, there was huge frustration for the hosts as they saw the penalty award overturned after a VAR review.
And Arne Slot’s men eventually paid the price for failing to execute their spell of second-half pressure, Dembele creating space on the edge of the area and beating Giorgi Mamardashvil with a left-footed strike into the bottom left corner.
That effort left Liverpool with plenty of work to do, and Dembele put the finishing touches on a second stoppage-time equalizer to make the gap between the two sides as tight as it should have been after the first leg in Paris.
Liverpool’s second consecutive Champions League exit at the hands of PSG will increase the scrutiny of Slot, who won the Premier League at a canter in his first season in charge but will end the campaign having failed to add more silverware despite more than £400million being invested in the club last summer.
Four points ahead of sixth-placed Chelsea with six games remaining, the Reds could appear in the Champions League next season, but the gap they need to close to a team that is three games away from winning the trophy is glaring.
Liverpool were beaten by Ekitike
Mamardashvili had to show his developing skills to prevent Dembele from breaking the deadlock before the 72nd minute, the Georgian denying the Ballon d’Or winner when he headed back into his own goal after cutting the ball back from Warren Zaire-Emery. Dembele then headed over the crossbar from close range following good work from Joao Neves.
Ekitike was stretchered off with severe stress half an hour after coming off the ball, leading to the introduction of Mohamed Salah, who was surprisingly left out with Alexander Isak making his first start since being injured in December.
Shortly after Ekitike’s departure, Liverpool came agonizingly close to taking the lead on the night as Matvey Safonov stopped Milos Kerkez with a fine save, before some outstanding defending from Marquinhos prevented Virgil van Dijk from tapping home the rebound.
PSG punishes the hosts’ cross
Isak was replaced by Cody Gakpo at half-time, and Safonov had to save an ambitious drive from the Dutchman.
PSG’s hopes of killing off the tie were dashed when Doue limped over after a challenge from Szoboszlai, and that preceded Liverpool’s best spell of the game, Ryan Gravenberch running after a stunning lead and Kerkez failing to capitalize on Salah’s brilliant cross.
The hosts looked to be able to survive after Alexis Mac Allister went down under a challenge from Willian Pacho and referee Maurizio Mariani pointed to the spot, and overturned his decision after a trip to the side of the field.
Mac Allister then flicked a ball wide with substitute Rio Ngumoha dispossessing Safonov after cutting in down the left, and Dembele showed Liverpool were lacking as he put the tie to bed.
PSG were on cruise control after that, and the icing on the cake came as Dembele made no mistake finishing just after being beaten by Bradley Barcola.
