UCL: PSG Breeze Past Liverpool On Penalties To Keep Champions League Dream Alive

UEFA Champions League: Star Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma helped Paris Saint-Germain beat Liverpool FC on penalties on March 12 at the Anfield to keep their dream of winning the prestigious title alive. The Paris-based club joined the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Liverpool started the second leg match in front of their home fans with a 1-0 lead on aggregate, however, they failed to maintain the momentum.

From the very first moment of the game, both sides started to attack and tried their best to get the back of the net, making it a thrilling clash. However, PSG got the breakthrough first in the 12th minute when former Barcelona attacker Ousmane Dembele made no mistake from scoring. PSG right winger Bradley Barcola kept an inch-perfect grounder into the box aiming Dembele, the French star didn't disappoint and successfully levelled the aggregate.

The lead boosted PSG's confidence as they kept on attacking, but Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker stayed solid under the goal post. The English club tried to turn around the match and kept attacking, but Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah failed to keep the ball on target. The first half ended with the score 1-0.

Soon after the second half started, PSG put up a wall in front of their goal post, trying to stop Liverpool's attack. After seeing the threat from Liverpool, PSG head coach Luis Enrique brought Desire Doue on the field in place of Barcola to strengthen their attack. Meanwhile, Liverpool kept looking for a chance to score. 

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Liverpool Display Poor Performance During Penalties

Following the 90th minute, the game moved into extra time where the two sides again failed to score a goal, forcing the match into the penalties. Vitinha came on first for PSG to take the spot kick. The Portuguese successfully beat Alisson and gave a sigh of relief to the away side. Salah took the first penalty for Liverpool and converted it in a style. Goncalo Ramos, Dembele, and Doue all scored for PSG. On the other hand, Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones' shots were saved by Donnarumma, which helped PSG seal the match on penalties by 4-1 at Anfield.

My Team Showed Great Personality: Luis Enrique

Speaking after the match, PSG coach Luis Enrique said that both the teams deserved to win, but his side showed better character at Anfield.

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“It does not matter if we deserve the win. Both teams deserved to go through. We were better in Paris and they were better here. My team showed great personality and character at Anfield,” Enrique said as quoted by AP.