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Ousmane Dembele celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the UEFA Champions League quarter final, second-leg football match. [AFP]
Ousmane Dembele’s double guided Paris Saint-Germain into the Champions League semi-finals as a 2-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday completed a 4-0 aggregate win for the holders.
To compound the English champions’ woes, Hugo Ekitike suffered a serious-looking injury that could end his season and hinder Liverpool’s chances of being back among Europe’s elite next season.
Arne Slot’s men sit fifth in the Premier League and will end the campaign trophyless after being kept at arm’s reach by a PSG side that did not need to be at their brilliant best to reach a third consecutive semi-final.
Defeat means there will be no glorious goodbye for Mohamed Salah after nine memorable years on Merseyside.
Slot showed little sentiment as he dropped the Egyptian to the bench on his final Champions League appearance in red.
Alexander Isak was preferred up front as the most expensive player in Premier League history started for the first time since breaking his leg in December.
However, Salah was forced into action after just half an hour as Ekitike suffered a nasty-looking injury that could ruin his World Cup hopes with France.
The former PSG striker crumpled in a heap holding his lower right leg with a suspected ruptured Achilles.
Salah nearly made an immediate impact as from his cross Matvey Safonov made a fine save from Milos Kerkez before Marquinhos produced a remarkable block to deny Virgil van Dijk the opening goal.
PSG had plenty of chances to have put the tie to bed in the Parc des Princes last week and were profligate once more in the first half.
Giorgi Mamardashvili scrambled back towards his line to punch away Dembele’s attempted chip before the Ballon d’Or winner blazed over from close range with just the Georgian to beat.
Slot admitted before kick-off that Isak could only last for 45 minutes due to a lack of match practice and the Swede made way for Cody Gakpo at half-time in a further blow to Liverpool’s firepower up front.
Dembele kills tie off
Kerkez had the best chance to set up a grandstand finale when he sliced wide another inviting Salah delivery.
Liverpool thought they had been gifted a lifeline when Alexis Mac Allister was awarded a very generous penalty for minimal contact by Willian Pacho, but VAR intervened to instruct referee Maurizio Mariani to reverse his original decision.
But as Liverpool poured forward in desperation, they became a sitting duck for the rapid PSG counter-attack.
Dembele finally killed the tie off 18 minutes from time when he cut onto his left foot and curled into the bottom corner from outside the box.
The French international then inflicted the final blow with a cool finish from Bradley Barcola’s cross in stoppage time.
PSG will face a tougher test against the in-form Bayern Munich or 15-time winners Real Madrid in the last four.
But after ending the Qatari-backed French champions’ long wait to conquer Europe last season, Luis Enrique’s men remain on course to become the only side other than Madrid to retain the competition in the Champions League era.