Liverpool OUT from Champions League, PSG triumphs in penalties

Shock at Anfield! Liverpool, the favourite to win Champions League, has fallen in penalties against a huge Paris Saint-Germain: 1-0, 1-1 on aggregate, and then 4-1 in penalties.

A clash of epic proportions that started last week, with PSG dominating and falling at home, and ended this week with Liverpool falling at home... and PSG dominating again: 55% ball possession, 21 shots vs. 19 from Liverpool, 8 shots on target vs. 3 shots on target by Liverpool, and a single goal by their top scorer Ousmane Dembélé, that took the match to added time and penalties.

It may not bee too fair to say that PSG dominated: it was a much even match than last week's, and both teams had plenty of occasions to score, with more goals hitting the post or narrowly avoiding net than we can count. Liverpool had much more presence during the first 90 minutes, but in the 30 minutes of added time, all shots were from PSG... and some were very, very close. But in the end everything was solved with penalties, and despite an stellar performance by both keeper, with Alisson Becker saving some key goal occasions, Gianluigi Donnarumma saved two penalties from Liverpool (the penalty shootout ended 4-1).

Liverpool, which didn't miss a single League Phase game and secured the first spot in the early phase, have now fallen against a team that ended 15th and had to play two extra games to secure their spot in the knockout stages. Arne Slot is probably wondering if it was worth the effort...

Elsewhere in Tuesday's Champions League games, FC Barcelona defeated 3-1 Benfica, Bayern scored two against Bayer Leverkusen (5-0 on aggregate), and Inter ended Feyenoord's hopes, 2-1, 4-1 on aggregate.