Liverpool manager Arne Slot called his team’s Champions League exit against Paris Saint-Germain “the best game of football I’ve been involved in,” despite the disappointing result.
After a 1-0 defeat in the first leg in Paris, Liverpool needed a strong performance at Anfield. However, PSG extended their advantage early when Ousmane Dembélé scored in the 12th minute.
Liverpool created several scoring chances but failed to find the net, pushing the match into extra time. With no goals in the additional minutes, the game was decided by a penalty shootout.
PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma made crucial saves against Darwin Núñez and Curtis Jones, while Desire Doué scored the decisive penalty, giving PSG a 4-1 victory in the shootout and ending Liverpool’s Champions League campaign.
“It was the best game of football I have ever been involved in,” Slot said on Amazon Prime.
“It was an incredible performance, especially if you compare it with last week. Maybe we ran out of luck because the margins were so small.
“We played the perfect game, except for scoring a goal. It was similar to Paris last week, when they played the perfect game and didn’t score. And then in extra time, they were maybe a little bit better.”
Liverpool still has two domestic trophies to chase despite their Champions League exit.
They are almost guaranteed to win the Premier League, holding a comfortable 15-point lead at the top of the table. Additionally, they have a chance to secure silverware when they face Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.
“We were pretty good and you want to go as far as possible, but we knew when we drew Paris that it was going to be very difficult,” admitted Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.
“In Paris, we struggled but we won. Today we saw a very good Liverpool side, but we’re out of the competition.”
Scotland left-back Andy Robertson said the focus will turn to Newcastle now as he added: “It wasn’t meant to be and we need to dust ourselves down. We always bounce back, there’s a lot of tired legs in there. Cup finals, we enjoy them, and that’s the biggest game.”
PSG boss Luis Enrique felt Liverpool were unlucky as he said: “Both of the teams deserve to go to the next phase.
“They played better than us here, but I think my team at Anfield, in a special stadium showed great personality and character.
“I think it shows clearly the team we are.”