PSG Trio’s ‘Brilliant’ Performances at Heart of Liverpool’s Elimination in Champions League | OneFootball

Paris Saint-Germain advanced to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals after defeating Liverpool 4-1 in a penalty shootout (1-1 on aggregate) Tuesday night at Anfield.

In the opening goal, Nuno Mendes found Ousmane Dembele in the center, who quickly passed it to Bradley Barcola on the right. Barcola tried to connect with Dembele again, but Ibrahima Konate’s sliding challenge inadvertently set up Dembele for an easy finish.

Extra time came and went without a goal, and the match proceeded to a shootout. PSG converted all their penalties against Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker, while Gianluigi Donnarumma played the role of hero.

After conceding a penalty to Mohamed Salah, Donnarumma saved attempts from Darwin Núñez and Curtis Jones, securing PSG’s spot in the next round. Desire Doue, despite his youth, kept his cool and delivered the decisive shot to send PSG through.

Jamie Carragher hails brilliant performance from three players

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After the match, CBS Sports pundit Jamie Carragher highlighted three Portuguese players who played a key role in helping PSG eliminate Liverpool over the 180 minutes.

“I thought the left-back against Salah, again, was brilliant,” Carragher said on CBS Sports Golazo. “He’s been outstanding in the two games. I think the two midfield players, well, Vitinha and [Joao] Neves in there, were brilliant. I thought for the first hour, maybe a little bit more—70, 75 minutes—I thought it was a brilliant game from both teams.

“It was just one of those games where we were all talking to the supporters either side of me at halftime, just saying this is just a top-level game. You’ve got to admire the brilliance of the opposition. To be honest, Liverpool supporters are used to that, but in Europe a lot.

“We go far in the competition, and you come up against great teams and great players. I think there was a feeling coming out of the ground there that the best team won. We’ve seen them in this competition. We’ve been critical of them. If they had too many stars, they went really close one season when they got to the final. But this almost feels like a team now.”

PSG will now face either Aston Villa or Club Brugge in the quarterfinals. Currently, the English side have a 3-1 aggregate lead heading into the second leg at Villa Park.