Paris Saint-Germain progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday after beating Liverpool 4-1 in a penalty shoot-out to win an epic last-16 tie between the clubs.
Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in Paris, PSG levelled the tie on aggregate thanks to Ousmane Dembele’s early strike at Anfield.
There were plenty of chances but no further goals at the end of 90 minutes or extra time, taking the tie to a shoot-out.
PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma then performed heroics by saving penalties from Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones, while all four of the away side’s kicks were converted by Vitinha, Goncalo Ramos, Dembele and Desire Doue.
The oft-maligned Nunez looked devastated after missing his attempt.
“You had that feeling as Darwin Nunez walked up to the ball, a sense of anxiety from the Liverpool fans,” former Reds defender Stephen Warnock said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
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Donnarumma denies Reds with insane save! | 00:30
The French champions, who have never won the competition, now advance to a quarter-final tie next month against either Aston Villa or Club Brugge.
Villa host the Belgian side on Wednesday and lead 3-1 from the first leg.
“It was the best game of football I was ever involved in,” Liverpool manager Arne Slot said after the defeat.
“Incredible performance, especially if you compare it with last week. We were creating chances and then we were 1-0 down. We ran out of luck after last week.
“For me it felt like we deserved more than being 1-0 down. We played the perfect game except for scoring a goal. It was similar to them PSG last week where they played the perfect game. And then in extra-time they were maybe a little bit better.
“It came down to penalties and we, as Dutch, know how to lose them.
“It feels unfair that we topped the table and then faced such a strong team like PSG.”
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk continued on Amazon Prime: “It was a very intense great game of football, I think to be part of it as well. It was totally there for Liverpool and what we showed in Paris and unfortunately were out on penalties and that is the reality.
“I think in the first half we created dangerous moments and they have the quality as well, and then it comes down to penalties.
“It’s part of football, I said to the guys, ‘Obviously, you can be disappointed because we’re out of the competition, but chin up and get ready for the next challenge.’
“I think we were pretty good today as well, and you want to go as far as possible, but we knew when we drew PSG it was going to be very difficult. We saw in Paris when we struggled but we won, and today we saw a very good Liverpool side but we’re out of the competition.”
KANE LEADS BAYERN PAST LEVERKUSEN
Elsewhere in the Champions League, Harry Kane scored a goal and set up another as Bayern Munich won 2-0 at Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday, going through to the quarter-finals 5-0 on aggregate.
Bayern were comfortable against last season’s unbeaten German champions, having already done the damage with a dominant 3-0 win at home in the first leg.
With the match scoreless at halftime, Leverkusen rolled the dice in search of the goals they needed but it was Bayern who struck, with Kane waltzing through to tap in a Joshua Kimmich cross early in the second period.
With Leverkusen again pushing forward, the visitors added a second in the 71st minute, Alphonso Davies slamming a clever Kane chip low and hard to double Bayern’s lead.
Kane, so often criticised for going missing in big games and scoring against the minnows, was again commanding, as he had been when scoring a brace in Munich.
The England captain showed finesse and physicality as he kept Bayern on track for a dream home final and a chance to exorcise the ghosts of their 2012 Champions League final loss to Chelsea.
Leverkusen showed spirit despite missing pivotal midfielder Florian Wirtz, but the scale of the task was too high.
Eight points behind Bayern in the league, Xabi Alonso’s likely last remaining chance for silverware this season is the German Cup, where Leverkusen are through to the final four.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS
Barcelona def. Benfica 3-1 (aggregate 4-1)
Bayern def. Leverkusen 2-0 (aggregate 5-0)
Inter def. Feyenoord 2-1 (aggregate 4-1)
PSG def. Liverpool 1-0 (aggregate 1-1, penalties 4-1)
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