Dembélé delivers knockout double as PSG end Liverpool’s European dream

It will be of little consolation to Arne Slot and Liverpool that, for the second season in succession, they went toe-to-toe with Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield and had nothing to show for their endeavours. Having exited the FA Cup quarter-final with a whimper, Liverpool exited the Champions League quarter-final with a fight. The damage done in Paris proved irretrievable.

Ousmane Dembélé, so wasteful in the first leg at Parc des Princes, put the quarter-final beyond any doubt with a clinical late finish to ensure there would be no famous European comeback from Liverpool on this occasion. Slot’s team at least performed with belief, and for 72 minutes they had hope, but the European champions held their nerve to advance into the semi-finals. Dembélé inflicted further punishment with a second goal from Bradley Barcola’s second assist in stoppage time.