The Paul Gorst from the Parc des Princes as Liverpool suffer a 2-0 Champions League quarter-final first-leg defeat to holders Paris Saint-Germain
Paris, France - April 8: head coach Arne Slot of Liverpool FC gestures looks dejected during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Quarter-Final First Leg match between Paris Saint-Germain FC and Liverpool FC at Parc des Princes on April 8, 2026 in Paris, France. (Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
Head coach Arne Slot of Liverpool gestures during the Champions League loss to Paris Saint-Germain (Image: Harry Langer/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
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Budapest has never felt so far away for Liverpool. And while Arne Slot and his players will attempt to say all the right things after this quarter-final defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, dreams of a seventh European Cup will surely be placed on hold at Anfield now.
The real question is for how long? Attention quickly turns to the arduous slog that is their Premier League campaign. The Reds host Fulham on Saturday evening and while they presently occupy the fifth and final qualification spot, they may yet stumble into the Promised Land simply by being slightly less ordinary than rivals Chelsea. It seems oddly fitting.
A 2-0 defeat here may leave enough room for Slot and his squad to talk up their ability to force the type of European comeback for which Liverpool are famous for at home next week, but this is not a group of players who, deep down, will genuinely believe it can be achieved.
Chins are on the floor, shoulders are hunched and confidence on the back of successive defeats to Manchester City and PSG - where six goals were shipped without reply - is now perhaps at an all-time low.
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The holders were too slick for their visitors as they showed why they are arguably the planet's preeminent team right now. For the second successive season, the Reds' Champions League campaign looks like it will come to an end at the hands of the Parisians, who were vastly superior on the night.
Goals from Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia gave the champions of Europe the scoreline their performance deserved as they dominated a Liverpool side that have now lost 16 times this campaign.
The defeat will only intensify the pressure on head coach Slot, who has come under fire throughout a turbulent term and the Premier League champions have now won just two of their last eight in all competitions.
It wasn't the best time for Slot to experiment with his line-up as he named a back five from a first-team squad for the first time in his tenure at one of the most imposing grounds in world football presently.
It was an even more peculiar decision given the lack of real training time he has had with his team since Saturday's 4-0 humiliation by City in the FA Cup. In truth, it smacked of desperation from a coach scratching and clawing for answers. Zero shots on target says it all.
And it took PSG just 11 minutes to unpick the lock with Doue's deflected effort looping over Giorgi Mamardashvili after an opening that saw the hosts play with the ball almost exclusively. It was PSG's first shot on target but that is not an indication of bad luck on the Reds' part. Slot, in fact, admitted his side were fortunate not to avoid a heavier defeat.
Luis Enrique's men continued to enjoy the lion's share of possession and should have scored a second through Dembele, whose weak shot was held after a wonderful, sweeping move from back to front cut their opponents wide open.
Liverpool were unable to muster much of a response down the other end with PSG goalkeeper Matvei Safonov a virtual spectator.
The Reds' best chance ended with a raised offside flag when Jeremie Frimpong flashed one across goal from Florian Wirtz's neat flick.
Liverpool, in fact, failed to have a single shot in the first half of a game for the first time in five years - when they were eliminated by Real Madrid - and they recorded just 82 passes, their fewest in the opening period of a Champions League game for 19 years.
In the second half Dembele was wasteful once more when he skied over when well placed inside the area after an errant header from Alexis Mac Allister gave PSG the chance to get in behind.
But Kvaratskhelia, the brilliant Georgia winger, made it 2-0 when he peeled off the Reds midfield before taking a pass from Joao Neves and rounding his international colleague Mamardashvili.
It was a dagger blow for Liverpool that could now prove fatal to their hopes of silverware.
PSG thought they had a penalty when Warren Zaire-Emery went down under a challenge from Ibrahima Konate but after cautioning the centre-back, referee Jose Maria Sanchez consulted the pitch-side monitor and the spot-kick was chalked off. It felt like a mercy call.
Slot sent on a quartet of changes in Alexander Isak, Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo and Andy Robertson but there was little they could do to turn the tide as the Ligue 1 leaders continued to burst forward in numbers almost at will. Dembele, who could have had a hat-trick, smashed against the post after another bewilderingly quick move.
One player who was left in reserve, however, was Mohamed Salah, who was kept on the bench as Liverpool searched for a way back into the tie.
It felt like another odd decision from Slot and the fans who stayed behind at the impressive Parc des Princes made their point known with a serenading of the legendary Egyptian as he felt the rare sensation of a post-match warm-down for the unused substitutes.
The Reds once more find themselves with it all to do on a huge European night back on Merseyside. But the old Anfield magic might well have evaporated this year.