Kop hero Mohamed Salah was left in tears on the Anfield turf as Liverpool was knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night.
The game was decided by penalties after the Reds suffered a 1-0 defeat on the night, with Ousmane Dembele netting the only goal of the match at the 12-minute mark to level the tie on aggregate.
Liverpool had gone into the second leg with a 1-0 lead, after Harvey Elliott’s late goal in Paris. That scoreline was harsh on PSG, who had battered Alisson Becker’s goal but without breaking through. Yet the visitors did get on the scoresheet early on at Anfield through the excellent Dembele.
He capitalized on a defensive mix-up to tap home from close range, after Ibrahima Konate had attempted a clearance. Liverpool did have chances after that but PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was in inspired form, denying Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai among others.
The Italy international would be the hero in the shootout too as he saved from Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones to spark wild scenes among the traveling PSG supporters.
After the game, Salah was visibly emotional as he applauded the Anfield crowd. The Egyptian is out of contract at the end of the season and is yet to sign a new deal, despite his incredible form under Arne Slot.
He has continued to suggest this is his last season at the club and his reaction at the final whistle again suggests that his time at Anfield could be coming to an end.
Skipper Virgil van Dijk is also a free agent in a matter of months but he has urged his teammates to look ahead to Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Newcastle. Speaking to Amazon Prime, he said: “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.
“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, a beautiful one on the weekend.”
