Liverpool player ratings: Alexander Isak flops as Reds crash out of Champions League

LIVERPOOL 0-2 PSG (0-4 agg): Ousmane Dembele's second-half brace sucked the life out of Anfield and ensured PSG would progress into the Champions League semi-finals

For many of the final 20 minutes of this game, Arne Slot simply stood with his hands in his pockets, a picture of rain-drenched disappointment.

And the cloud above his managerial head has become an awful lot darker. For a while, there was a semblance of hope on this miserable Anfield night - but, in truth, not a great deal.

And it will be Slot who again comes into critical focus for his team selection and tactics. They were never a match for the guile of Luis Enrique and Paris Saint-Germain.

When Mohamed Salah implied there would be several stages of his Liverpool farewell, he could not have imagined being benched for a monumental Champions League challenge being one of them.

Mind you, had he started the match, he would probably have found it a struggle to keep up with the contest’s breakneck pace. To say it was frantic was a thumping understatement.

This is a PSG team that has imagination, technique and pace running through every department.

And the tie really should have been done and dusted within a quarter of this second leg but Ousmane Demeble - significantly wasteful in the first leg - contrived to put what should have been a formality into the heart of the Kop.

For a good half an hour, Anfield’s most effective performer was its congregation, only falling silent when poor Hugo Ekitike’s awkward fall had horrible-looking consequences, the French striker having to be taken from the field on a stretcher.

Hopefully, his injury isn’t as bad as it looked.

His cruel misfortune brought Salah into the fray and his impact was immediate, a cute cross causing serious chaos in the Paris defence and Virgil van Dijk only denied by a wonderful Marquinhos tackle.

Salah’s presence seemed to bring a sense of trepidation to a previously unflappable PSG team but Luis Enrique’s side still had a couple of half-chances to settle matters before half-time.

That they did not was one of the reasons Liverpool began the second half with a fair degree of hope. The other reason was that this was a PSG side that was not at its most fluent.

And Slot’s half-time changes made a difference. To be fair, he had little choice but to withdraw Alexander Isak, who looked a long way from being ready for his first start of the year, and Jeremie Frimpong, who simply did not put a foot right.

Their replacements, Cody Gakpo and Joe Gomez, both produced threatening moments in an early second half spell when Liverpool enjoyed a decent level of dominance.

As that spell began to fizzle out, Liverpool seemed to have been given the lifeline they so desperately needed when Maurizio Mariani decided Willian Pacho had fouled Alexis Mac Allister in the penalty area but a VAR intervention sent the Italian referee to the monitor and he reversed his original call.

It was an unusual decision in that replays showed Pacho had made some contact with Mac Allister’s ankle, even if the Argentine had exaggerated the effect of the contact.

For a moment, Liverpool looked deflated but Slot immediately introduced Rio Ngumoha and the teenager gave the stadium another lift with a brilliant run and strike that was saved low down by Matvei Safonov.

But all hope was extinguished when Dembele finally produced the world-class finish he is capable of - and that was that. He then added a second in stoppage time as Liverpool piled forward.

Here's how Liverpool rated at Anfield...

Giorgi Mamardashvili

Unorthodox at times but had to make a couple of decent early saves to keep the tie alive. 6

Jeremie Frimpong

Was hooked at half-time and was lucky to last that long after one of his worst showings of the season. 4

Ibrahima Konate

A touch more comfortable than he was on that night in Paris but still far from foot perfect. 5

Virgil van Dijk

Only denied by a magnificent Marquinhos tackle and marshalled the defence with his usual command. 6

Milos Kerkez

Certainly gave it all and could not be faulted for effort even if he sometimes wasted possession. 8 - MOTM

Ryan Gravenberch

Grew into the game - as a lot of Liverpool players did - and was a strong influence in the second half. 7

Alexis Mac Allister

Pace of the game a bit too much for him early on and the first half booking was predictable. 5

Dominik Szoboszlai

Not as creative and as dangerous as he would like to be but put in a seriously combative shift. 6

Florian Wirtz

Had his moments and produced some customary nice touches but not threatening enough. 6

Hugo Ekitike

Nothing much came off for the Frenchman before he suffered a nasty-looking injury. Hopefully, it’s not too bad. 5

Alexander Isak

Giving him his first start since December was a bizarre decision and never looked like paying off. Subbed at the interval. 4

Substitutes

Mohamed Salah (for Ekitike)

Made an instant impact and showed that he was unfortunate not to be a starter. 7

Joe Gomez (for Frimpong)

Had a reasonable impact but lasted little more than 20 minutes before having to make way for Rio Ngumoha. 5

Cody Gakpo (for Isak)

Had a couple of very decent efforts on goal and would have been annoyed not to start. 7

Rio Ngumoha (for Gomez)

Got the Kop going with what is already a trademark run and shot but that was immediately followed by Dembele’s goal. 7

Curtis Jones (for Mac Allister)

Not enough time to make a serious impact and struggled to get involved in the game as it fizzled out. 5