Dembélé brace buries Liverpool

Paris Saint-Germain ended Liverpool’s Champions League run on Tuesday, winning 2-0 at Anfield as Ousmane Dembélé scored twice late to finish a 4-0 aggregate victory. (uefa.com) Dembélé broke the second leg open in the 72nd minute and added another in stoppage time, after Liverpool had pushed early through Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Rio Ngumoha. UEFA named Dembélé Player of the Match. (uefa.com) The tie was largely decided six days earlier in Paris, where Désiré Doué scored in the 11th minute and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia added a second-half goal in a 2-0 first-leg win on April 8. Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili kept that margin from growing further. (uefa.com) The result sends the defending European champions back to the semi-finals, where Paris Saint-Germain will face either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. UEFA lists that semi-final first leg for April 28 and the second leg for May 6. (uefa.com) For Liverpool, the exit closes a run that had included a 4-1 aggregate win over Galatasaray in the round of 16. Arne Slot started Isak for the first time since December in the second leg, but Liverpool did not score across 180 minutes against Paris. (uefa.com, uefa.com) This quarter-final also flipped the script from the clubs’ meeting in last season’s knockout phase. UEFA said Paris had lost 1-0 at home to Liverpool in that 2024-25 tie before eventually going through on penalties, and this time the French side won both legs. (uefa.com) Paris reached the quarter-finals after beating Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate in the round of 16, part of a knockout run that has now produced eight goals across four matches. Liverpool, by contrast, went from a four-goal second leg against Galatasaray to two scoreless games against the holders. (uefa.com) By full time at Anfield, the pattern of the tie was settled: Paris Saint-Germain absorbed Liverpool’s pressure, Dembélé supplied the finishing, and the holders moved two matches closer to the May 30 final in Budapest. (uefa.com, uefa.com)