Stage was set for one of Liverpool’s classic comeback nights – but not this team against these European champions
Often in the past Liverpool has demanded and Anfield has delivered. Past glories perhaps shouldn’t influence the present, but they do; precedent begets belief. That’s part of the mythos of the great stadiums, how they develop a life and an identity of their own. But a club cannot simply give itself to an arena and hope that it will do the job that players and management and the executive body cannot. No ground, not even Anfield, has an infinite capacity for miracles.
Just because Liverpool came from 3-0 down to beat Barcelona in 2019, there’s no reason to believe they could overhaul a two-goal deficit against Paris Saint-Germain in 2026. Anfield did its bit on a windy night on which early drizzle gave way to teeming rain. The rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone was suitably stirring, the noise from both sets of fans boisterous. But it was not enough.
Really this tie was decided in the first leg last week – which arguably would have been true even had Liverpool got back into it, if only on the grounds that PSG had not racked up the lead their superiority suggested they should have.
