Slot: PSG defeat was the best game of football I've ever been involved in
Liverpool lost 4-1 on a penalty shootout in their last-16 tie against PSG, having been beaten 1-0 at Anfield on Tuesday.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot took solace in the fact that his side's last-16 Champions League exit at home to PSG came in what he described as "the best game of football I've ever been involved in".
PSG beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield after extra time on Tuesday, which left the tie 1-1 on aggregate, after Ousmane Dembele's first-half goal. The visitors went on to win 4-1 in a penalty shootout.
"Yeah, of course it's a shock," said Slot. "But if you have to go out, and go out in a way like we did against one of the best teams in Europe and make such a fight out of it.
"I hope and think that every fan around the world was hoping that this game just kept on going, that it wouldn't stop because it was incredible. And they, in the end, won."
Visiting goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma saved penalties from Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones in the shootout, while PSG scored four out of four.
The result comes after Liverpool's smash-and-grab 1-0 victory in Paris last week and they had been expected by many to go on and win the tournament after topping the eight-game league phase.
Though it is a rare low in a season of Liverpool highs and it is important to mention that they are 15 points clear at the top of the Premier League and go into the EFL Cup final against Newcastle United on Sunday.
PSG vs Liverpool over two legs. pic.twitter.com/9kNP9J4k6W
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) March 12, 2025
Slot, though, suggested that finishing top of the league stage did not count for anything in the tournament.
"We really showed ourselves, we can be proud of what we did, won seven games in a row. We got out in a way that I think we've impressed Europe," he said.
"But yeah, it is something now to take into consideration that we end up first in the league table and then face PSG in the next round.
"We were so unlucky to play Paris St Germain, but in the end if you want to win the tournament you need to beat teams like PSG."