Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League journey came to an end in crushing fashion after losing to PSG on penalties.
Gianluigi Donnarumma denied Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones from the spot as the Ligue 1 giants got their revenge on the Reds at Anfield, with Liverpool also losing Trent Alexander-Arnold to an ankle injury to make the result even more crushing.
With Arne Slot’s Liverpool substitutes coming under fire, the Dutch manager seemingly got it wrong against PSG, who across the two legs were the better side and arguably deserved their spot in the next round of the Champions League.
Yet Jamie Carragher noticed something in the penalty shootout that seems to indicate that PSG got an advantage over Liverpool.
Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport/CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts – CameraSport/CameraSport via Getty Images
Jamie Carragher couldn’t work out why PSG got to decide on which end to shoot and if they wanted to go first
Speaking to CBS after the full-time whistle, the former Liverpool defender suggested that PSG got an advantage by getting to decide which end to shoot in and whether or not they wanted to go first in the shootout.
Having won the coin toss, teams are usually given just one advantage for penalties, yet it appears that PSG were given the opportunity to decide which end of the stadium they wanted the shootout to take part in as well as if they wanted to go first.
Carragher said about the shootout: “The best team won, PSG. Where I was in the Kop we were all just hanging on for penalties and desperate for penalties really. Then it’s a lottery and anything can happen.
“But one thing I couldn’t work out with the penalties was obviously it was a toss with Virgil van Dijk, PSG must have won the toss to take it at the other end but also took the first penalty, so I wasn’t quite sure what happened there. Normally it’s you get one advantage and maybe the other team gets the first penalty.”
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Jamie Carragher lauds ‘brilliant’ Kop end atmosphere
Liverpool might have been on the losing side, but as noted by Luis Enrique, Anfield was bouncing once again for a top-class European night, with Carragher, who was sat in the Kop, impressed with what he heard from the home fans.
Carragher said: “It was brilliant, I was in there with my mates on the Kop. We just didn’t get the goal to go mad, there was one disallowed and one off the inside of the post, so we were going mad then but you just didn’t have the opportunity to go mad.
“The atmosphere was great but when you come up against a team like that keeping the ball and causing you problems it just puts everyone on edge.”