Darwin Nunez will want to forget Liverpool’s defeat at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain for so many reasons.
The Uruguayan once again finds himself in the spotlight after the Reds crashed out of the Champions League. Nunez – who was left devastated – was one of two players, alongside Curtis Jones, to miss from the spot as Liverpool lost on penalties at Anfield, with PSG securing its spot in the quarter-finals.
The French champion had earlier leveled the tie through Ousmane Dembele after Harvey Elliott’s winner in Paris a week ago. Despite plenty of chances, Liverpool couldn’t get its nose back in front, with Nunez failing to make an impact after being introduced in the second half.
It wasn’t just his penalty miss that drew criticism, with the 25-year-old’s performance after replacing Diogo Jota leaving a lot to be desired. Nothing perhaps summed up his and Liverpool’s frustrations more than an awkward moment with Luis Diaz as the clock ticked down in the second half.
With just around 10 minutes to go in normal time, Virgil van Dijk sent a long ball forward, which Nunez looked to chase down. As he approached the ball, Diaz started to make a move in behind him, anticipating a potential cut-back.
Instead, Nunez glanced over at the assistant referee, seemingly worried that he was offside from Van Dijk’s pass, and gave up his chase, leaving Diaz to hastily change his course in order to try and rescue the situation. The Colombian had no luck though as Marquinhos shielded the ball out for a goal-kick, nullifying any danger.
Nunez could be seen remonstrating with Diaz immediately afterward, and things would only get worse for the striker later with his penalty miss as his forlorn expression summed up his current situation at Anfield.
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Summing up the reaction to Liverpool’s defeat, Van Dijk said after the game: “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.
“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.
“Today from the first second and then extra time, when fatigue kicks in for both sides, it becomes more open but especially regular time, we showed a very good game.
“We can speak about the game for ages but we’re out of the competition, that is the reality.”
