Liverpool suffered defeat to French league champions PSG on Tuesday night, with The Reds losing on penalties. Ousmane Dembele got PSG off to the perfect start as he finished an incisive counterattack by the Parisians, with the help of a mixup between Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate and goalkeeper Alisson Becker, on the 12 minute mark to level the tie after Liverpool had won in Paris, courtesy of Harvey Elliots late strike.
Liverpool dominated the rest of the proceedings in the main, with Mohammad Salah going close on multiple occasions while substitute Jarrell Quansah hit the post and Dominik Szoboszlai had an effort ruled out for offside.
After 120 minutes, the game went to penalties where PSG goalkeeper and Italy international Gianluigi Donnarumma made himself the hero as he saved both Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones’ penalties respectively. PSG were perfect from the penalty spot leaving 19 year old Désiré Doué to slot home and put the Parisians into the Quarter Final.
The exit from European competition can be regarded as Liverpool boss Arne Slot’s second hiccup since he joined Liverpool from Feyenoord in the summer, the first being his sides loss to Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup last month. The Reds still have much to play for as they battle against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final in just over a week's time, while they are also on course to win their second league title in five years.
Elsewhere, Inter Milan cruised past Robin van Persie’s Feyenoord 4-1 on aggregate, with the Nerazzurri winning 2-1 on the night, courtesy of goals from Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Marcus Thuram, either side of a Jakub Moder penalty.
Barcelona also punched their ticket to the quarterfinals with a 4-1 win on aggregate over Benfica. The Blaugrana showed dogged determination in Portugal last week as they won by a goal to nil, despite young centre-back Pau Cubarsi being shown a red card. Two goals by former Leeds United winger Raphinia put him atop the Champions League goalscoring chart so far this season, and 17 year old superstar Lamine Yamal’s stunning strike rendered Benfica captain Nicolas Otamendi’s goal obsolete as they progressed in the competition.
Finally, a Harry Kane masterclass over two legs ensured that Bayern Munich progressed against their German compatriots and Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen. On the night, Kane himself scored and set up Canadian wing-back Alphonso Davies to give Bayern a 2-0 win on the night. The England international has now scored 10 goals in 11 champions league matches this season, Kane scored two of Bayern’s three goals in the last leg and the Bavarian outfit progress to the Quarter Final following a 5-0 win on aggregate.
The Champions League returns on Wednesday night for the second half of the Round of 16 fixtures.
