LIVERPOOL, U.K. – Defending UEFA Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain have booked their spot in the competition’s semi-finals, powered by a two-goal performance from Ousmane Dembele that secured a 2-0 victory over Liverpool on Tuesday at Anfield, wrapping up a dominant 4-0 aggregate win across the two legs.
The result brings a disappointing end to Liverpool’s 2024-25 European campaign, compounded by a severe injury to French forward Hugo Ekitike that is widely expected to end his season — a blow that also threatens Liverpool’s bid to re-establish themselves among Europe’s top contenders next term. The injury has additionally cast major doubt over Ekitike’s place in France’s squad for the upcoming 2025 FIFA World Cup.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool side currently occupy fifth place in the English Premier League, and the exit confirms the club will finish the season without any major silverware. PSG, by contrast, advanced to their third consecutive Champions League semi-final without needing to deliver their absolute best performance to overcome the English champions.
For Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, the defeat means he will not get the fairy-tale Champions League send-off fans had hoped for, bringing an end to his nine-year trophy-laden spell on Merseyside in underwhelming fashion. Slot made a clear, unsentimental selection call to bench the Egyptian winger for what was confirmed to be his final European appearance in Liverpool’s red kit.
Slot opted to start Alexander Isak, the Premier League’s most expensive signing in history, up front. It marked Isak’s first start since he suffered a broken leg back in December. However, the game was forced into an early shift when Ekitike went down with his injury just 30 minutes in, requiring Salah to be brought into the action earlier than planned.
The former PSG striker collapsed to the Anfield turf clutching his lower right leg, with initial reports pointing to a suspected ruptured Achilles tendon. Salah almost made an instant impact after coming on: his cross found Milos Kerkez, whose shot was turned away by a fine save from PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, before Marquinhos produced a stunning last-ditch block to stop Virgil van Dijk from opening the scoring for Liverpool.
PSG squandered multiple opportunities to put the two-legged tie out of reach during the first leg at the Parc des Princes a week earlier, and the French side continued their wasteful finishing through the first half of Tuesday’s return leg. Giorgi Mamardashvili, Liverpool’s Georgian goalkeeper, scrambled back to his line to punch away a chipped effort from Dembele, before the Ballon d’Or winner blazed a close-range effort over the crossbar with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Slot had warned ahead of kick-off that Isak would only be fit to play 45 minutes due to a lack of competitive match fitness following his long injury layoff, so the Swede was substituted off for Cody Gakpo at half-time — further eroding Liverpool’s attacking options going into the second half.
As Liverpool pushed hard for the goals they needed to get back into the tie, Kerkez missed the best chance to ignite a dramatic comeback, slicing a shot wide after another pinpoint delivery from Salah. The home side thought they had been thrown a lifeline when referee Maurizio Mariani awarded a penalty to Alexis Mac Allister after minimal contact from Willian Pacho, but a VAR review overturned the soft decision, stripping Liverpool of their potential path back into the match.
With Liverpool committing numbers forward in desperation, PSG’s rapid counter-attack left the hosts exposed, and Dembele finally put the result beyond all doubt with 18 minutes left to play. Cutting onto his favored left foot, he curled a precise effort from outside the penalty area into the bottom corner of the net. The French winger then added a second goal deep into stoppage time, finishing coolly from a low cross by Bradley Barcola to seal the win.
In the semi-finals, PSG will face a far stiffer test against the winner of the current quarter-final tie between in-form Bayern Munich and 15-time Champions League winners Real Madrid. Having ended the Qatari-backed club’s decades-long wait for a European title last season, Luis Enrique’s side remain on track to make history: only Real Madrid has successfully defended the Champions League title in the modern era of the competition.