Liverpool Lose 2-0 at PSG, Champions League Hopes Dangling
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Liverpool lost 2-0 to PSG in the Champions League quarter-final first leg at Parc des Princes, their 16th defeat of the season, and failed to record a shot on target in a Champions League match for the first time since 2020.
- PSG dominated the statistics with 74% possession, 18 shots to Liverpool's 3, and 39 touches in Liverpool's box to 9, prompting one French journalist to liken Liverpool's five-at-the-back setup to 'a little team' in the French Cup.
- Arne Slot dropped Mohamed Salah entirely — not even using him from the bench — and brought on £125m British record signing Alexander Isak in the 78th minute, but Isak managed just three touches per Opta.
- Liverpool's form has collapsed since last season's penalty shootout exit to PSG, with their win rate falling from 74.4% in Slot's first 43 games to 49.2% across the 59 matches since, according to the source.
- Captain Virgil van Dijk, who had accused his team of 'giving up' in the 4-0 loss at Manchester City the previous Saturday, insisted Liverpool would not abandon their Champions League ambitions and called on fans to deliver 'special evenings at Anfield' in the second leg.
- Liverpool sit fifth in the Premier League, one point above sixth-placed Chelsea, and must either win the Champions League or finish in the top five to qualify for next season's competition.
- French police held Liverpool's away fans inside the stadium for roughly 30 minutes after full time to clear home supporters, a detail former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson said underlined the gulf between the two clubs on the night.
Why it matters: Liverpool now need a historic Anfield comeback against the reigning European champions while their form — 16 defeats, a collapsed win rate, and a captain publicly accusing the team of giving up — points in the opposite direction. Failure to overturn the 2-0 deficit, or to stay in the Premier League's top five (they lead Chelsea by just one point), would cost the club Champions League revenue and raise direct questions about Arne Slot's future despite last season's title win.
