Liverpool huffed and puffed against Paris Saint-Germain, but in the end, Ousmane Dembele’s said it all: the Reds are not clinical enough.
It has been a recurring theme throughout the campaign. Even when Liverpool play well, with intensity and focus, they are let down by their own wastefulness, an inability to play with anything close to the sharpness that has defined the trophy-winning recent years on Merseyside.
Instead, Anfield has played host to Liverpool's Champions League exit for the second successive season, with PSG once again inching toward the title.
Virgil van Dijk for Liverpool
It was a disastrous night in more ways than one. Not only have Liverpool lost their European status for the season, but they have lost their star striker, Hugo Ekitike, to an injury that threatens not just his availability this season but for the rest of the calendar year.
How Hugo Ekitike's injury affected Liverpool
It's usually foolish to administer an online prognosis, but Ekitike's off-the-ball injury didn't look good, falling down and clutching his ankle. It's been suggested that the France international has damaged his Achilles heel.
Having arrived from Eintracht Frankfurt for £79m last year, Ekitike, 23, has been the brightest spark across the campaign for the new recruits, but it now looks like his season has been cruelly ended more than a month early - and with a World Cup championship on the horizon.
While Alexander Isak started up top for the Reds, his first time from the opening whistle after returning from a knee injury that had kept him out since December, the £125m summer signing was largely anonymous at number nine before being hooked at half-time.
Liverpool's Top Scorers (2025/26)
Player
Hugo Ekitike
Dominik Szoboszlai
Mohamed Salah
Cody Gakpo
Florian Wirtz
It knocked Liverpool's attacking flow off kilter, even though Mohamed Salah entered the fray and impressed up until the interval.
Hugo-Ekitike-Liverpool-PSG
However, the forwards weren't the guiltiest of the lot, with Liverpool too stale from the centre once again. There was one man in particular who proved - again - that he should not be starting while playing at his current level.
Liverpool "superstar" must now be dropped
Liverpool have been abject for much of the campaign, and while different first-teamers have taken the spot at the bottom throughout the year, Alexis Mac Allister has always been somewhere near the bottom.
Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister during training
The all-action midfielder has been a shadow of his past self, uncertain and lacking the combative energy that defines his skillset. Defined.
Though he has been a mainstay throughout the lion's share of his Liverpool career, the Argentina international is no longer the "superstar" who "can play anywhere" across midfield, as was remarked by pundit Joe Cole during his first year at Anfield.
This has been evident against PSG's midfield, who have minnowed him, who have reminded the Reds fanbase what robust midfield play looks like when combined with artful technicality, skills and style that wins titles.
Alexis Mac Allister vs PSG
Stats
Minutes played
Goals + Assists
Touches
Accurate passes
Chances created
Crosses
Possession lost
Dribbles
Ball recoveries
Tackles + interceptions
Duels won
Fouls
He created nothing against the Parisians, but the fact that he took fewer touches than Mamardashvili between the sticks maybe underscores how heavily Mac Allister has tumbled by the wayside. He is no longer an able foot soldier in Slot's centre, let alone a trusted lieutenant at the heart of the project.
Still only 27 years old, Mac Allister is playing like a much older man, like he is standing at the start of a twilit grove in the closing stages of his career. He should be doing much more, and time is running out for him to prove that he can perform as a central cog of Slot's system.
While the likes of Curtis Jones have not been brilliant this term, the South American simply cannot continue in a role that leaves everything to be desired. As reporter James Pearce put it, he was "really poor" when Dembele ended any hopes of a comeback with a fine finish from range.
Liverpool face Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday afternoon. They will need to be more incisive in the final third, but they will also need to be slicker and more purposeful on the ball.
Mac Allister, frankly, has shown very little to suggest that he has what it takes to play a starring role.
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