Liverpool 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain: Dembele 72, 90+2
Arne Slot’s Liverpool were much improved here at Anfield after the awful show last week in Paris, and for a while it even looked like they had hope. It was all square after the hour when Alexis Mac Allister went down to a challenge by Paris Saint-Germain’s Willian Pacho and the referee pointed to the spot.
A lifeline. Score and Liverpool would need just one goal within half an hour at Anfield, with the crowd behind them, for a shot at the semis, and perhaps even salvation for Slot. But the referee was called to the monitor and after a review he decided that Mac Allister had initiated contact, and Pacho had barely touched the midfielder.
The decision was overturned. No penalty and no lifeline for the home side. Instead PSG’s quality shone through and Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele buried two chances to double their tally from last week and send Liverpool out down 4-0 on aggregate.
Having lost that first leg Slot overhauled his attack for this one, dropping Mohamed Salah to the bench and handing a rare start to Alexander Isak. Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz were also involved from the beginning, which meant that Liverpool’s three most expensive summer acquisitions were starting a game together for only the second time.
If the past few weeks have been full of pain there was much cause for optimism. Liverpool pressed with an intensity that had been missing at the Parc des Princes and PSG goalkeeper Matvei Safonov was repeatedly called into action.
What a win ! 💪#UCL
pic.twitter.com/PcDxC6ooEY— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) April 14, 2026
Having said that, PSG were clearly the sharper team in attack and Dembele failed to capitalise on excellent team play from the beginning, hooking a close-range turn-around-and-shoot chance over the bar in the first half, before seeing a clever chip punched clear by Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Liverpool continued on a highly positive note in the second half and after the penalty was overturned Cody Gakpo soon forced a save from Safonov. Joe Gomez also headed over and Ryan Gravenberch tried his luck from distance after Liverpool cleverly worked the angles, but it went narrowly wide.
Then Dembele played out the first of his two-part act. In the 72nd minute, Bradley Barcola broke down the left and found Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on the inside left, who shifted the ball to Dembele, who then shifted inside and curled excellently into the bottom-left corner. The game was all but over then but Dembele had no problem piling on after Barcola ran though and squared to him for a tap-in.
