Following the loss in the penalty shoot – out, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has described Tuesday’s match with Paris St-Germain as “the best game of football I’ve been involved in”, despite his side exiting the competition as a result.
Liverpool had plenty of chances to score but the game went to extra time, and was decided on spot-kicks, where PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma saved from Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones, before Desire Doue fired home to seal a 4-1 success.
“It was the best game of football I have ever been involved in,” Slot said on Amazon Prime.
“It was an incredible performance, especially if you compare it with last week. Maybe we ran out of luck because the margins were so small.
“We played the perfect game, except for scoring a goal. It was similar to Paris last week, when they played the perfect game and didn’t score. And then in extra time, they were maybe a little bit better.”
With a 15-point lead at the top, the Reds are all but certain of winning the Premier League, while they face Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.
“We were pretty good and you want to go as far as possible, but we knew when we drew Paris that it was going to be very difficult,” admitted Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.
“In Paris, we struggled but we won. Today, we saw a very good Liverpool side, but we’re out of the competition.”
Scotland left-back Andy Robertson said the focus will turn to Newcastle now as he added:
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“It wasn’t meant to be and we need to dust ourselves down. We always bounce back, there’s a lot of tired legs in there. Cup finals, we enjoy them, and that’s the biggest game.”
PSG boss Luis Enrique felt Liverpool were unlucky as he said: “Both of the teams deserve to go to the next phase. They played better than us here, but I think my team at Anfield, in a special stadium showed great personality and character.
“I think it shows clearly the team we are.”
Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold is a doubt for Sunday’s final against Newcastle at Wembley.
The England defender was substituted in the second half against PSG after appearing to jar a knee in a challenge with Vitinha.
