Paris escaped the Anfield trap. Manhandled by Liverpool, PSG held on before seizing victory with two flashes of their Ballon d'Or Ousmane Dembélé (0-2, 0-4 overall). The Parisians will play in the semi-final of the Champions League for the third time in a row, a first for a French club.œ
Published on: 04/14/2026 - 10:59 p.m. Modified on: 04/14/2026 - 11:20 p.m.
Paris SG, defending champion, booked their ticket to the semi-finals of the Champions League by winning 2-0 on Tuesday April 14 in Liverpool, after their success by the same score in the first leg.
The Ballon d'Or Ousmane Dembélé scored both goals (73rd, 90th+2) for the European champions in the pouring rain of Anfield, at the heart of a second half largely dominated by the Reds. The European champion buckled under the wind and rain of the north of England, without ever breaking or giving up his precious ticket for the last four of the premier club competition.
He even did much better, bringing back another victory from this legendary stadium, in conditions made difficult by unfriendly weather and injuries, a year after his success here on penalties in the round of 16 second leg.
Dembélé, already a scorer on that occasion, did it again on the first shot attempted by the visitors in the second half (72nd, 1-0), at a time when the French defense was suffering in the face of the offensive waves of the Reds. The Ballon d'Or hit the nail on the head in added time to complete the work of the visitors, still as killers (90th + 1, 2-0).
PSG will play, against Harry Kane's Bayern Munich or Kylian Mbappé's Real Madrid, a third consecutive semi-final, the fifth in seven seasons, which says a lot about the place it now occupies at the top of the continental hierarchy.
On Tuesday, Luis Enrique's team was not the crushing machine of the first leg (2-0), because they had a cushion of two goals to rest on and a much livelier Liverpool team to master. She carried out her task calmly until half-time, in the rain, the wind and the songs of a noisy and bustling Anfield stadium, ready to get excited for each half-chance obtained and tackle made.
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That of Ibrahima Konaté, on a good cross from Joao Neves (43rd), showed that the Reds' defense was ready for the fight, but it also symbolized the balance of danger, to the advantage of PSG. Dembélé, already, forced Giorgi Mamardashvili to box a lob attempt (10th), then the Frenchman had an equally valuable opportunity on a pivotal shot, from close range but passed well above the goal (17th).
Defensively, the visitors did not have many scares, except for this hot ball pushed back with the left hand by Matvey Safonov, author of a good overall performance, then decisively by Marquinhos in front of Virgil van Dijk (31st).
But the pressure rose several notches in the second half and they stopped breathing when the referee whistled a penalty against Willian Pacho (65th), then let out a sigh of relief when the game director reversed his judgment, with video to back it up.
PSG, however, lost Nuno Mendes and Désiré Doué to injury while Liverpool's French striker Hugo Ekitiké was taken out on a stretcher in the first period and could see his participation in the World Cup (June 11-July 19 in the United States, Canada and Mexico) compromised depending on the severity of the diagnosis.
Salah failed to resurrect his past magic and the 33-year-old winger said goodbye to the Champions League in the Liverpool jersey, which he will leave at the end of the season.
With AFP and Reuters
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