34 min \u201cSlot has made too many mistakes to count this season but he has been cursed by injuries,\u201d says Niall Mullen.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure The Discourse has space for such nuance any more.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n 31 min: Chance for Liverpool! Marquinhos screams in triumph after denying Liverpool<\/a> a goal. Salah\u2019s first touch was a dangerous inswinging cross towards the far post that Kerkez met on the half-volley Safonov changed direction to make an outstanding save low to his left, but the ball ran loose in front of a largely open goal. Van Dijk looked set to score from four yards until Marquinhos took ball and man with a sensational tackle.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.39 EDT<\/p>\n 30 min: Liverpool<\/a> substitution Ekitike has both hands on his head as he is stretchered off the field. He doesn\u2019t look in agony but the body language of those near him, players and medical staff, suggest it\u2019s a serious injury. Mo Salah replaces him.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 29 min A stretcher is being brought onto the field and Mo Salah is preparing to come on. There\u2019s a fair bit of concern on the faces of both the Liverpool<\/a> and PSG players.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.32 EDT<\/p>\n 28 min Ekitike is down and looks in a significant pain. It\u2019s a rainy night at Anfield and he slipped with nobody near him. This doesn\u2019t look great.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.33 EDT<\/p>\n 25 min Dembele\u2019s excellent cross\/pass from the right finds Doue in a peedie bit of space at the far post \u2013 but he decides to take a touch and leaves the ball behind. If he had the chance again he might wallop a first-time shot on the bounce.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n There\u2019s been another goal in Madrid. Here\u2019s some bait. Would you like to click it?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 22 min Safonov makes a fine one-on-one save from Isak, though the flag went up for offside after the event. Even so, that was more encouraging for Liverpool: a surge through midfield from Gravenberch and an Ian Rush-like run behind the defence from Isak.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 20 min Kvaratskhelia is holding his coupon after a collision with Van Dijk\u2019s stiff arm. It looked accidental.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 19 min \u201cLiverpool fans cheering half challenges that don\u2019t quite win the ball back reminds me of Petey\u2019s recital in American Pie 2<\/a>,\u201d writes Niall Mullen.<\/p>\n [NB: Clip may well contain adult themes and\/or language. I mean, it\u2019s three minutes long and it\u2019s from American Pie 2, so there\u2019s a fair chance.]<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 17 min: Big chance for Dembele! Somebody throws a second ball onto the pitch while PSG are exploring the Liverpool<\/a> penalty area. Play continues and Joao Neves lobs a short pass into Dembele, whose shot on the turn from eight yards goes over the bar. The bounce made it slightly awkward but it was still the best chance of the game so far.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 16 min A mishit volley from Gravenberch loops towards goal, not entirely unlike the famous Origi goal v Everton, and is punched away under pressure by Safonov.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 14 min Frimpong\u2019s overhit cross is collected on the far side by Kerkez. He twists Hakimi inside-out but then crosses straight into the hands of Safonov.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 12 min A Liverpool<\/a> goal would change the mood at a stroke, but right now PSG are bossing the game while apparently playing in second gear. Again, it might be recency bias but I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve seen a better club side since Pep Guardiola\u2019s Barcelona.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 10 min Dembele curves a delicious through ball towards Zaire-Emery on the edge of the Liverpool<\/a> area. Mamaradashvili slides at his feet to clear the danger \u2013 but only temporarily. The ball is collected by Dembele, who quickly shoots from 35 yards and draws an unorthodox save from Mamardashvili. He was running back towards the goalline and punched the ball away a little awkwardly. Inelegant but effective.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.16 EDT<\/p>\n 8 min Kvaratskhelia beats Frimpong without even touching the ball. It was rolled up to him near the halfway line, and in the blink of an eye he\u2019d let it run through his own legs and away from Frimpong.<\/p>\n Nothing comes of it, but it\u2019s another example of Kvaratskhelia\u2019s lubricious ability. I can\u2019t deal with this bloke. He shouldn\u2019t be allowed to play football before the watershed.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.15 EDT<\/p>\n 6 min Wirtz wins Liverpool\u2019s first corner of the game. Szoboszlai\u2019s outswinger is met by Isak at the near post; his flicked header is comfortably by Safonov. Decent effort.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n In other news, there\u2019s been an early goal in Madrid. <\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 4 min That corner eventually leads to Kvaratskhelia flashing a curler towards goal from 25 yards. Mamardashvili can\u2019t hold the shot but has time to collect the rebound.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 3 min PSG have made an ominously assured start. Kvaratskhelia gets to the byline, then cuts back and finds Zaire-Emery on the edge of the area. His whipped shot is headed behind for a corner.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.07 EDT<\/p>\n 2 min Liverpool have started with Florian Wirtz playing from the left. Looks like a 4-1-4-1 formation with Wirtz and Ekitike as the wide forwards.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 1 min After a minute\u2019s silence in memory of the 97 Liverpool<\/a> fans who lost their lives at Hillsborough 37 years ago tomorrow, PSG get the game under way.<\/p>\n Respects are paid by those at Anfield. Photograph: Adam Vaughan\/EPAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.08 EDT<\/p>\n \u201cLiverpool\u2019s team selection,\u201d begins Peter Oh, \u201cis just the latest example of expecting too much of generative AI (Alexander Isak).\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThanks for posting Ian Copsestake\u2019s very lovely and inspiring comment \u2013 and his book<\/a> does look fascinating,\u201d writes Philippa Bowe. \u201cThe comment echoed my recent thoughts, how the team is struggling so much in a season coloured by that terrible loss but still have to deliver those regular doses of escapism for the fans \u2013 and incur their wrath when they don\u2019t quite manage. The beautiful game is so meaningful for so many people, it often feels like the players aren\u2019t really allowed to be human.\u201d<\/p>\n I agree. It might be recency bias but I can\u2019t remember a time when football \u2013 or life \u2013 had such an empathy deficit.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here come the players. The atmosphere is\u2026 well, it\u2019s Anfield.<\/p>\n Liverpool fans display banners in memory of the 97 victims of the Hillsborough disaster. Photograph: Phil Noble\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.05 EDT<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019d think after nearly two years in the job Slot would know the value of consistency by now?\u201d writes Andrew Chappell. \u201cBut apparently he\u2019s willing to roll the dice again with a new formation today. And letting the opposition know Isak is being subbed after 45 minutes? I\u2019m doing my best to find reasons to be cheerful (part four) but not entirely feeling it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019ve played this formation before, haven\u2019t they, albeit with Salah rather than Isak in attack? Or have I been having more dreams about Liverpool<\/a> FC?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The match is on Amazon Prime in the UK, which means we get to spend the evening with my favourite pundit, Clarence Seedorf. Here\u2019s his take on the game.<\/p>\n double quotation markIt\u2019s about how much the Liverpool players actually believe they can turn this around. We will see it in the first few minutes, in their eyes and in their actions.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n To the victor belongs the spoils<\/p>\n Tonight\u2019s winners will play Bayern Munich or Real Madrid in the semi-final, with the first leg at home on 28 or 29 April. The second leg is on 5 or 6 May.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHi Rob!\u201d begins Joe Pearson. \u201c\u2018If we can do it, wonderful. If not, then fail in the most beautiful way.\u2019 With a nod to Jurgen Klopp, I have no expectations, only hope. Sigh.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cLiverpool have been in a cloud of melancholy at times, having to get on with the day job of fulfilling dreams while suffering an acute loss with no time to mourn,\u201d writes Ian Copsestake. \u201cIt used to be that such mental distress was treated with a sea journey. There\u2019s even a new book about its history<\/a>. But absurdly it is Liverpool who are tasked with lifting us, and on that voyage I wish them pure joy.\u201d<\/p>\n Ian is too modest\/English\/English to add that he is the author of the book, Madness and the Sea, which looks fascinating.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n When Warren Za\u00efre-Emery ran the show as a 17-year-old in a 3-0 win against Milan, Thierry Henry said \u201cthe sky is the limit\u201d<\/a> for the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder. His stratospheric rise led him too close to the sun, though, and the crash back down to Earth was a rude one. But he has since dusted himself off.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>The players on a yellow card<\/p>\n Liverpool Van Dijk, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Jones.<\/p>\n Paris Saint-Germain Nuno Mendes, Kvaratskhelia.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Arne Slot has said that Alexander Isak won\u2019t be able to play much more than 45 minutes. Interesting. I guess the logic of starting him is that, if you bring him off the bench, the match could go to extra-time.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Luis Garc\u00eda was \u201csuper cool\u201d, he says. That, at least, was the plan, but things have a habit of working out differently. When the former Atl\u00e9tico Madrid, Barcelona and Liverpool<\/a> player retired in 2016, it was the second time: he walked out of the game in 2014 and walked back in again six months later. But this time, he wasn\u2019t going to be affected. All that suffering and satisfaction, the pressure, the emotion: that was no more.<\/p>\n \u201cI was always very competitive and once I had left football, I thought I wasn\u2019t going to have those feelings I had before,\u201d he says. \u201cI still enjoy football, still play seven-a-side with my friends \u2013 every Saturday at 10am, Los Jare\u00f1os Club de Futbol \u2013 but I thought I had lost that and it wasn\u2019t coming back. In fact, I was trying to avoid it; I didn\u2019t want it. So when it happened, it surprised me. I didn\u2019t expect football to give me that again. But there I was, crying.\u201d<\/p>\n It was mid-February in Iskandar Puteri, Malaysia, and the players Garc\u00eda was watching celebrating a historic win were his, the feeling shared. \u201cWhen I saw them jumping with joy, having been with them every day, sharing the long journeys, from Malaysia to Vietnam and back, on to Japan, and then saw them win I got that emotion again.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cDisappointed that Ngumoha isn\u2019t starting,\u201d writes Patrick Crumlish. \u201cPlayed so well at weekend and has something most of the team are lacking – confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n Yeah, I\u2019d have started him, both for his obvious ability and the impact it would have on the crowd.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a strong argument that Liverpool<\/a> were the better side in the first leg at Camp Nou in 2019,\u201d writes Niall Mullen. \u201cCertainly 3-0 massively flattered Barca. Unfortunately 2-0 to PSG a week ago massively flattered Liverpool and, I\u2019d argue, this PSG team is better than the 2019 Barca team while this Liverpool team is considerably worse than that Liverpool team. Which all adds up to say that sometimes even magic nights at Anfield sometimes crash into the cold concrete wall of reality. I suspect this tie will be over well before half-time.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s a great point about the first leg in Barcelona in 2019.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Tonight\u2019s other quarter-final is in Madrid, where Atletico have a 2-0 aggregate lead over Barcelona. You can follow that with Will Unwin.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Team news: Isak starts<\/p>\n Alexander Isak starts a Liverpool<\/a> game for the first time since December, replacing Joe Gomez in the only change from the first leg. Mo Salah and Rio Ngumoha, who scored against Fulham at the weekend, are on the bench.<\/p>\n PSG are unchanged, because why would you change that XI?<\/p>\n Liverpool (possible 4-D-2) Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch; Szoboszlai, Mac Allister; Wirtz; Isak, Ekitike.<\/p>\n Subs: Woodman, Misciur, Gomez, Jones, Chiesa, Salah, Robertson, Nyoni, Nallo, Ngumoha.<\/p>\n Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3) Chevalier; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Zaire-Emery, Vitinha, Joao Neves; Doue, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia.<\/p>\n Subs: Chevalier, Marin, Lucas Beraldo, Zabarnyi, Goncalo Ramos, Lee, L Hernandez, Mayulu, Dro Fernandez, Barcola, Mbaye.<\/p>\n Referee Maurizio Mariani (Italy).<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.20 EDT<\/p>\n Arne Slot has said Liverpool do not face an impossible task against Paris Saint-Germain but must produce the perfect performance to overcome the European champions in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.<\/p>\n Liverpool require another stirring Anfield comeback in Tuesday\u2019s second leg to salvage their hopes of silverware having lost 2-0 at Parc des Princes last week. PSG were vastly superior in the first leg and should have won more comfortably, although their head coach, Luis Enrique, described such talk as \u201ca trap\u201d and claimed there will be \u201cpitfalls\u201d for his team at Anfield.<\/p>\n Slot and Dominik Szoboszlai exuded confidence at the pre-match press conference on Monday, with the Liverpool head coach insisting it will not be difficult to instil belief in his players for a make-or-break night at Anfield.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.42 EDT<\/p>\n Preamble<\/p>\n Right, where shall we start? Saint-Etienne 1977<\/a>, perhaps, the first epic European comeback at Anfield. Maybe Auxerre 1991<\/a> or Dortmund 2016<\/a>, when Liverpool made a mockery of apparently insurmountable deficits. \u201cThe stadium seemed to know what would happen,\u201d winced Dortmund\u2019s manager Thomas Tuchel after Dejan Lovren scored an injury-time winner. \u201cIt was as if it was meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Barcelona 2019<\/a> is the ultimate, a 4-0 win with a weakened team that still blows the mind seven years on. Those precedents \u2013 and the knowledge that Anfield is a unique microclimate \u2013 are sources of hope for Liverpool as they strive for another glorious comeback against Paris Saint-Germain tonight.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a nagging fear that the only relevant precedent is last week\u2019s first leg, when PSG ran Liverpool<\/a> ragged and should have won by more than 2-0. Even the staunchest Kopite might concede that PSG are a class apart, and all logic says they will cruise into a semi-final against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.<\/p>\n Oh, just one more thing: logic and European nights at Anfield don\u2019t always see eye to eye.<\/p>\n Kick-off 8pm.<\/p>\n![\"Sid](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Sid_Lowe,_L.png\")
Sid Lowe<\/p>\n![\"Andy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Andy_Hunter.png\")
Andy Hunter<\/p>\n