Liverpool exits Champions League after penalty loss to PSG

Liverpool finished first in the tournament's league phase with a near-perfect record, scoring 17 goals and conceding just five. Its peerless run through the early stages of the competition made it a clear favorite for the 2025 trophy, and its early exit blows the tournament wide open.

While PSG's victory will go down as an upset, the French team was the better side in both matches and fully deserved its win. It managed a whopping 48 shots across both legs and looked fluid, hungry and dangerous straight through to the final whistle. 

The tie was a goalkeeper showcase in both legs. Liverpool's Alisson Becker dominated the first leg and earned Man of the Match with his nine otherworldly saves.

But it was PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma who dominated the second with his calculated performance in the penalty shootout. His two saves — against Darwin Nuñez, a regular penalty-taker, and Curtis Jones, a rookie volunteer — flipped the tie in PSG's favor.

For Liverpool, this loss is chastening but not disastrous. The team is still on track to win the Premier League by a wide margin. Exiting the Champions League now only makes it more likely that Liverpool will take home its domestic league title; with less travel and fewer midweek games in its future, it will be rested and locked in for its Premier League appearances.

For PSG, this win is a ringing endorsement of coach Luis Enrique's top-to-bottom squad rebuild. PSG spent the past decade as Europe's premier galactico squad, fielding Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé at the same time — but despite all of its resources, PSG never looked capable of winning the Champions League. 

With all three megastars off the roster, Enrique has taken PSG away from its galactico roots. He's invested heavily in talented young players like Bradley Barcola, Joao Neves and Desire Doue, the latter of whom scored PSG's winning penalty and sealed its spot in the Champions League quarterfinals. 

Enrique's vision was questioned when he first arrived at the club, but this victory over Europe's most in-form team proves that he's on the right track. The PSG kids, it seems, are decidedly all right.

For the Champions League as a whole, this headlining matchup proves that the new "league phase" format does not reduce the likelihood of shock upsets. Teams evolve considerably over the course of the 10-month European season; PSG didn't look as competitive as Liverpool in September, but it caught up by the time the two clubs met in March.

PSG will face either England's Aston Villa or Belgium's Club Brugge in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Villa and Club Brugge will play the second leg of their Round of 16 tie Wednesday; Villa leads the tie 3-1 on aggregate.