Hakimi at full time after PSG's win over Liverpool (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Liverpool have a famous love affair with the European Cup, but it can be a cruel mistress at times. And after experiencing a night that could hardly have gone worse for his team, Arne Slot will now be given a fresh sort of examination of his credentials.
It's quite the feat to reach the second week of March before suffering a first meaningful defeat of the season but Slot will now be tasked with something new: quickly lifting chins off the floor and weary muscles off the treatment table just in time for Sunday's Carabao Cup final with Newcastle United. The restorative powers of his man management could make all the difference this weekend.
With a 15-point lead at the Premier League's summit, it's easy to now cast September's 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest into irrelevance, while defeats to PSV Eindhoven and Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup, with much-changed sides, can also be dismissed as being of little significance in the wider scheme of the season.
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But this one will sting. And for some time too.
Had the Reds been neck and neck in the Premier League with their title rivals, there is an argument to be made that seeing the Champions League falling by the wayside might not hurt as much as it ordinarily might.
But having built up the sort of lead that is skirting the edges of 'unassailable', the chance to go deeper into the revamped and more lucrative European Cup will be deeply frustrating for Slot, particularly after his side were taken to their outer limits by Paris Saint-Germain before faltering on penalties.
PSG coach Luis Enrique made the argument on Monday that whoever won this tie would be crowned champions of European in Munich and if there is a side who can match these two, then it will be some final for the neutrals.
That will now include Liverpool as they watch on from afar for the remainder of the competition, having lost 4-1 on penalties after an absorbing and an at times breathtaking contest with the Ligue 1 champions. This is what UEFA are looking to sell when they package up this tournament in its all regalia. It had it all.
A first half that whizzed by in a blur started positively for the hosts but after Alexis Mac Allister's smart cut-back had found Mohamed Salah at the back post, the Egypt star was denied goal No.33 of the campaign by an exceptional block from the outstanding Nuno Mendes.
Portugal international Mendes picked up where he left off last week at the Parc des Princes as he constantly denied Salah in his efforts to make in-roads on the tie. Salah is having arguably his greatest ever campaign but Mendes has surely proven the most formidable of his left-back opponents.
Despite being dominated in the early exchanges, PSG levelled the tie with their first real venture forward and it came in fortuitous circumstances when Ibrahima Konate cut out Bradley Barcola's cross only for Ousmane Dembele to snaffle up the rebound for a tap-in. It was harsh on the hosts but nothing less than PSG will feel they deserved from their first-leg dominance.
Alisson made two more vital contributions before half time was out, smothering chances for both Barcola and Dembele and the Brazil international was impeccable across the 210 minutes of this tie.
Liverpool were the dominant side in the second half but were unable to find the telling piece of play to open up the Paris outfit. Dominik Szoboszlai thought he had done so from Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross but Luis Diaz was flagged for offside in the build up.
PSG and their unconvincing goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma held on and injuries to first Alexander-Arnold in normal time and then Konate in extra time left the Reds playing for spot-kicks with the sort of patched-up backline that is concerning ahead of Sunday's Wembley showpiece. Slot was at least hopeful that Konate's problems were fatigue-related. Alexander-Arnold looks likely to miss Sunday though.
It was substitutes Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones who missed the decisive penalties for Slot's men and no blame should be attributed to either for those pressured kicks, but the former struggled following his introduction for Diogo Jota, who once more toiled himself against the PSG defence.
The difficulties both Nunez and Jota endured on the night laid bare more clearly than ever that Slot has to look to the market this summer for a shiny new No.9. This is not a reactive statement on the back of a damaging loss, either. The Reds might be strolling towards a second league championship in five years domestically but they are doing so largely on the back of the contributions of their wide forwards when it comes to goals, most notably Salah, who was unable to get the better of the brilliant Mendes.
How different this tie might have been had that early chance found the back of the net? Slot might find himself unable to sleep on Tuesday replaying that moment.
The boos that rang out from those on the Kop who had stayed behind long after the final whistle were reserved for Achraf Hakimi, the PSG captain, who strolled into the centre circle before unfurling a large banner that celebrated his club.
As provocative gestures go, it was not quite Graeme Souness planting a Galatasaray flag into the turf against loathed Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce, but it was enough to rile those who had stayed in the seats.
"Where's your European Cup!?" a half-full Kop demanded to know in response. The French champions might just have their answer later this year on this evidence. No.7 for Liverpool will have to wait.