Defending European champion Paris St Germain was a ‌cut above Liverpool as goals by Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ​spurred it to an easy 2-0 home win in its Champions ⁠League quarterfinal first leg on Wednesday.

Doue and Kvaratskhelia struck either side of half-time to give Luis Enrique’s side a solid advantage ahead of next week’s return at Anfield, where PSG booked ‌its place in the last eight last season.

Doue opened the scoring with a deflected effort before Kvaratskhelia doubled the lead with a superb ‌solo run and finish, but PSG wasted a handful of chances that ‌would ⁠have further strengthened their push for the semifinals.

Liverpool, thrashed 4-0 by ⁠Manchester City in the FA Cup quarterfinals at the weekend, set up cautiously with three centre backs and Mohamed Salah on the bench, but struggled to contain a PSG side that mixed patient ​possession with bursts of attacking intensity.

Arne ‌Slot opted for a back three with wings but the defence held for only 11 minutes at the Parc des Princes.

Doue picked up the ball on the left side of the box and his curled shot towards the opposite ‌top corner took a slight deflection off Ryan Gravenberch and went out ​of Giorgi Mamardashvili’s reach.

Liverpool was hanging on for dear life, picking up two yellow cards in three minutes, and barely threatened.

ZERO SHOTS ⁠ON TARGET FOR LIVERPOOL

As the visitor’s defence scrambled a clearance, Kvaratskhelia fired a half-volley that forced Mamardashvili to fully stretch. The ‘keeper then denied Doue from point-blank ‌range, preserving Liverpool’s deficit to a minimum.

Next, Ousmane Dembele missed a golden opportunity to double the advantage when he shot straight at the ‘keeper at the end of a sharp transition.

Liverpool, which did not manage a single shot before the break, was fortunate to be only one goal behind.

Hugo Ekitike was the first to have a go but shot wide four minutes into the second half. But that ​was as close as the visiting side got, failing to manage a single shot on target.

Liverpool did, however, look bolder after the interval, but ⁠limited compared to PSG, which played keep-ball and tormented them with brutal changes of ⁠pace.

One of them came in the 65th minute when Joao Neves played in a racing Kvaratskhelia and the Georgian danced his way through the ‌area, rounded Mamardashvili and slotted the ball home.

Dembele’s angled shot crashed onto the post and Nuno Mendes fluffed a golden chance in the final minutes as ​Liverpool preserved a slim hope of overturning the deficit next Tuesday.

Published on Apr 09, 2026