LIVERPOOL: Paris Saint-Germain produced a historic turnaround to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals at Liverpool’s expense as they triumphed 4-1 on penalties after a 1-0 second leg win at Anfield.
Never in Liverpool’s history had they lost a European tie after winning the first leg away from home but Ousmane Dembele’s early strike brought the French champions level at 1-1 on aggregate.
PSG were then perfect with their four spot-kicks, while Gianluigi Donnarumma saved from Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones.
Luis Enrique said before the game that the winners would progress to the final and PSG will be supremely confident of reaching the semifinals at least as they will face Aston Villa or Club Brugge in the last eight.
A famous victory for the Parisians was deserved over the tie after they dominated the first leg only to be denied by the brilliance of Alisson Becker in the Liverpool goal before Harvey Elliott snatched a late winner.
The roles were reversed early on and Liverpool were made to rue not making more of their chances.
Brilliant play by Alexis Mac Allister should have created the opener on four minutes when the Argentine’s cross picked out Mohamed Salah, whose goalbound effort was deflected over by Nuno Mendes.
Salah sliced wide another good chance on one of the few occasions he got the better of the determined Mendes.
PSG took 10 minutes to ride out the storm from the home side before finding their feet.
The visitors took the lead on 12 minutes when Ibrahima Konate could only turn Bradley Barcola’s cross beyond Alisson to leave Dembele with a simple finish.
The French international has now scored 23 goals in his last 17 games and could have had more before the end of the night.
Konate nearly made amends immediately when his low shot was turned behind by Donnarumma.
However, it was PSG who had the better openings to extend their advantage before half-time.
Twice Alisson had to be at his sharpest to race off his line and save one-on-ones against Barcola and Dembele.
PSG beat Liverpool to the signing of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in January and the Georgian proved a constant menace to the Reds’ defense.
Kvaratskhelia’s shot from Dembele’s cross was arrowing toward the top corner until a deflection from Ryan Gravenberch took it just over the crossbar.
Improved second-half performances have been a common theme of Arne Slot’s first season at Liverpool and the hosts came roaring out of the traps after the break.
Dominik Szoboszlai had a goal ruled out for offside against Luis Diaz earlier in the move.
Szoboszlai then had a goalbound effort blocked by Willian Pacho before Donnarumma made a vital stop from Diaz from the resulting corner.
Liverpool’s momentum could have been halted by the loss of Trent Alexander-Arnold to a knee injury after the right-back landed awkwardly.
But his replacement, Jarell Quansah, was inches away from winning the tie when his header came back off the inside of the post.
PSG barely threatened during the second half of the 90 minutes but Liverpool were left hanging on for penalties in extra time.
Lucas Beraldo’s header and Desire Doue’s shot flew just wide before more Alisson heroics kept PSG at bay with a stunning stop to turn Dembele’s curling effort round the post.
However, Alisson could not save them in the shootout as it was the other goalkeeper who was the hero.
Donnarumma produced great saves to deny Nunez and Jones, either side of four confident strikes from Vitinha, Goncalo Ramos, Dembele and Doue to send PSG into the last eight.
PSG stun Liverpool on penalties to make Champions League quarters
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PSG stun Liverpool on penalties to make Champions League quarters
- Improved second-half performances have been a common theme of Arne Slot’s first season at Liverpool and the hosts came roaring out of the traps after the break
Real Madrid beats Atletico on penalties in Champions League. Arsenal, Villa, Dortmund also advance
- Madrid moves on to the quarterfinals to face Arsenal, which also advanced Wednesday along with Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid in a Champions League penalty shootout — again — to keep its title defense alive Wednesday and advance to the quarterfinals.
Defender Antonio Rüdiger scored the decisive spot-kick in a 4-2 shootout win after two Atletico players missed. Marco Llorente’s shot struck the bar after Julian Alvarez’s score despite slipping was disallowed because he touched the ball twice.
Madrid also beat Atletico in a shootout to win the 2016 final — part of a streak of eliminating its city rival in the knockout rounds for four straight years, starting with the 2014 final.
Madrid moves on to the quarterfinals to face Arsenal, which also advanced Wednesday along with Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund. The quarterfinals lineup was completed with Madrid’s win in a tense derby that had ended 2-2 on aggregate score.
Atletico led 1-0 after 90 minutes and extra time in its Metropolitano Stadium to cancel out Madrid’s 2-1 advantage from the first leg last week.
Two key incidents defined regulation time. Atletico Madrid scored within 30 seconds and Real Madrid missed a penalty in the 70th minute.
Atletico took the lead with its first attack when England midfielder Conor Gallagher pounced on the ball from close range when a cross by Rodrigo De Paul was deflected into the goalmouth.
Madrid star Vinícius Júnior blazed a penalty kick high over the Atletico goal when he could have sent the 15-time champion through. He was substituted in extra time for his teenage fellow Brazilian, Endrick.
Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham stepped up to score Madrid’s first two spot-kicks, and Fede Valverde also scored before Lucas Vazquez’s kick was saved by Jan Oblak.
It was more relaxed in London, where Arsenal rested some regulars in a 2-2 draw with PSV Eindhoven to run up a 9-3 aggregate score.
Aston Villa also had a stress-free evening at home to ensure England has two teams in the quarterfinals, one night after Premier League leader Liverpool was beaten at Anfield by Paris Saint-Germain in a shootout.
Villa won 3-0 against Club Brugge, which played with 10 men from the 17th, after a 3-1 win in Belgium last week. Brugge defender Kyriani Sabbe was sent off for pulling back Marcus Rashford when running clear on goal.
Substitute Marco Asensio, on loan at Villa from PSG, scored twice in the second half to ensure his temporary club will meet his parent club next.
Borussia Dortmund rallied with two second-half goals to win 2-1 at Lille and advance 3-2 on aggregate. The beaten finalist last season now faces Barcelona.
Quarterfinals draw
The quarterfinals pairings are: Arsenal vs Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain vs. Aston Villa, Barcelona vs. Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich vs. Inter Milan
First-leg games are on April 8-9 and return games are one week later.
England’s unexpected challenge
There’s only one former European champion from England left in the Champions League. Villa’s unbeaten home record has driven its run to the quarterfinal, with wins against Bayern, Bologna, Celtic and now Brugge.
Liverpool’s exit to PSG followed Manchester City being pushed out of the knockout playoffs last month by Real Madrid. Without the Champions League winners in 2019 and 2023, respectively, England’s challenge halved to just two.
Villa’s 1982 European Cup title is perhaps a less-remembered one in the competition’s 70-year history. Arsenal’s only time in the final was a loss to Barcelona in 2006.
Villa manager Unai Emery now goes back to Paris where his two seasons as coach there until 2018 seemed to be unsatisfactory for both parties.
Dortmund thrives in Europe
Just like last season, Borussia Dortmund is better in the Champions League than the German league.
The Bundesliga’s 10th-place team trailed Lille from the fifth minute to Canada forward Jonathan David’s shot, before rallying in the second half for a decisive 2-1 win. Dortmund leveled in the 54th from Emre Can’s penalty and Maximilian Beier sealed the victory nine minutes later with a rising shot.
Dortmund was the beaten finalist last June – losing 2-0 to Real Madrid at Wembley Stadium – and got into this Champions League only because Germany earned a bonus entry for fifth place in the Bundesliga.
Niko Kovač, the club’s third coach in the Champions League this season, now takes Dortmund to face former star forward Robert Lewandowski at Barcelona.
Top-5 leagues dominate
Expected exits for Brugge and PSV — after Benfica and Feyenoord were eliminated Tuesday — leaves only the five wealthiest leagues in Europe are now represented.
No team from outside England, Spain, Germany, Italy or France has reached the Champions League final since Porto coached by Jose Mourinho won in 2004.
UEFA will share almost 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) total prize money among the 36 Champions League teams this season and the 20 percent higher payouts this season figure to widen the wealth gap in European soccer. England and Spain also are in line for bonus fifth places in the Champions League next season, sending tens of millions more in prize money there.
Each quarterfinalist will get 12.5 million euros ($13.6 million). A place in the semifinals pays an extra 15 million euros ($16.3 million).
Dortmund fight back to beat Lille and reach Champions League quarters
- Jonathan David gave Lille an early lead on the night
- Dortmund will now face Barcelona in the quarter-finals next month
LILLE, France: Borussia Dortmund recovered from losing an early goal to fight back and beat Lille 2-1 in France in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday, sealing a 3-2 aggregate victory and a place in the quarter-finals.
Jonathan David gave Lille an early lead on the night, putting the French club ahead in the tie after last week’s 1-1 first-leg draw.
However, Emre Can squared things by converting a penalty for Dortmund on 54 minutes, and Maximilian Beier then fired in a fine winner for last season’s runners-up.
Dortmund will now face Barcelona in the quarter-finals next month, having already lost 3-2 at home to the Catalans during the league phase in December.
The result is a huge boost for Dortmund and their recently-appointed coach Niko Kovac, coming as the club languishes in 10th place in the Bundesliga.
It is a massive disappointment for Lille, who were hoping to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in their history after an outstanding performance during the league phase.
They finished seventh out of 36 teams, beating both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on the way, while also holding Juventus and putting six past Feyenoord.
Lille appeared to be in a strong position after coming from behind to draw in Dortmund last week, and they went in front in the tie when Canada forward David scored in the fifth minute.
Ismaily’s low ball in from the left was swept toward goal by David, somehow going in through the legs of Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
It was David’s seventh goal in this season’s Champions League, but it seemed to galvanize the visitors.
They were denied an equalizer by a remarkable double save from Lille ‘keeper Lucas Chevalier in the midst of a goalmouth scramble on 20 minutes.
Dortmund applied pressure and were rewarded when they won a penalty shortly after half-time as Serhou Guirassy went down under contact from Thomas Meunier.
Can fired in the spot-kick, and Karim Adeyemi then hit the bar for Dortmund before they found what proved to be the winner on 65 minutes.
Guirassy, who has 10 goals in the Champions League this season, was the provider but Beier still had work to do as he controlled the ball in the box before firing a lethal shot high into the net.
Lille could not recover from that blow as they went out in the last 16, just like in their two previous appearances at this stage of the competition, in 2007 and 2022.
Messi to travel with Miami for Jamaican tie
- Messi missed Inter’s 4-1 win at the Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer on Mar. 2
- “Leo Messi is on the roster and will travel with the team to Jamaica,” Mascherano said
MIAMI, USA: Lionel Messi, who has sat out Inter Miami’s last three games, will travel to Jamaica for Thursday’s CONCACAF Champions Cup match with Kingston side Cavalier, coach Javier Mascherano said on Wednesday.
Messi missed Inter’s 4-1 win at the Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer on Mar. 2 and then the 2-0 midweek home win over Cavalier in the first leg of the last-16 tie against the Jamaicans.
The Argentine then sat unused on the bench for Sunday’s 1-0 win over Charlotte in MLS, with Mascherano saying the caution over using the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was based on managing his workload and not an injury.
Speaking to the media before the team flew out to the Caribbean Island nation, Mascherano, a former team-mate of Messi’s at Barcelona, said the forward would be making the trip.
“Leo Messi is on the roster and will travel with the team to Jamaica. Tomorrow (Thursday) we will decide for the game what is best, if he starts or waits on the bench and comes in later,” he said.
“Today he trained with the team, and the sensations were good. We’re happy he’ll travel with us to Jamaica,” he added.
The game is expected to attract a sell-out crowd to the 35,000 capacity National Stadium in Kingston.
While Messi has faced Jamaica’s national team for Argentina, he has never played in the nation before.
Cavalier head coach and sporting director Rudolph Speid believes his team are capable of turning around the tie against a team that will include former Barca players Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez.
“It is about normalizing the Inter Miami team so that our players are comfortable playing against players with such high esteem,” Speid explained.
“Jordi Alba is 35 years old but he runs up and down like he thinks he is 25. Sergio Busquets is a brilliant player — it is very difficult to take the ball off him when he has it under control. And Lionel Messi, I don’t even have to say anything,” he told the Jamaican Gleaner.
Herve Renard announces Saudi Arabia’s lineup for Asian qualifiers for 2026 World Cup
- Green Falcons will host China on March 20 before they travel to play against Japan on March 25
- Frenchman’s list constitutes of 27 players, who will join the Green Falcon’s training camp in Riyadh on Sunday
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s national football team’s French head coach Herve Renard announced on Wednesday the lineup for the seventh and eighth rounds of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
The Green Falcons will host China on March 20 at Al-Awwal Park Stadium before they travel to play against Japan on March 25 at Saitama Stadium 2002.
The Frenchman’s list constitutes of 27 players, who will join the Green Falcon’s training camp in Riyadh, starting March 16, ahead of their two qualifiers.
The list includes Ahmed Al-Kassar, Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Hamed Yousef, Mishari Sinior, Hassan Kadesh, Jihad Zekri, Saad Al-Moussa, Ali Lajami, Hassan Al-Tambukti, Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti, Saud Abdulhamid, Nawaf Bushel, Ali Majrashi, Faisal Al-Ghamdi, Nasser Al-Dosari, Musab Al-Juwair, Ziad Al-Jahni, Mohammed Kano, Salem Al-Dosari, Turki Al-Ammar, Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Ayman Yahya, Muhannad Al-Saad, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, Marwan Al-Sahafi, Firas Al-Buraikan and Abdullah Al-Salem.
The Green Falcons are in Group 3 in the third round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, alongside Japan, Australia, Bahrain, China and Indonesia.
Muslim Boxing Awards return to Birmingham this month to honor British Muslim fighters
- The event, now in its second year, is the brainchild of solicitor Adil Hussain, founder of a pro bono legal organization that helps boxers deal with complex business contracts
- The event will also include a fundraiser in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and a 4-course Ramadan iftar
LONDON: Top British Muslim boxers will be honored at an awards event on March 22 in Birmingham, which organizers describe as a celebration of fighters’ careers and the values of fairness within the sport.
The Muslim Boxing Awards 2025 will take place at the city’s Grand Botanical Suite and be presented by Amir Khan, a former Olympian and two-time world champion, and Johnny Nelson, a former world cruiserweight champion.
This year’s awards ceremony follows the inaugural event in April last year. It is once again organized by Legal Blows, a pro bono legal organization that helps boxers deal with the complexities of business contracts, which said the evening will unite champions, rising stars and boxing legends for a memorable celebration.
“The event will honor the dedication, excellence and values that make Muslim athletes true role models, both inside and outside the ring,” it added.
It will also include a fundraiser in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and a four-course Ramadan iftar.
Legal Blows said the lineup it has assembled for the awards features some of Britain’s top boxers and other leading lights in the sport, including: Shabaz Masoud, holder of the IBO super-bantamweight title; Hamza Uddin, a former Team GB fighter and eight-time national champion; Haseebah Abdullah, England’s first hijab-wearing boxing coach; and Mehek Khalil, an amateur boxer and actress.
The Muslim Boxing Awards is the brainchild of solicitor Adil Hussain, the founder of Legal Blows, in collaboration with renowned boxing figures, including Khan and other top-tier talent.
“Many athletes are unaware that they have the ability to negotiate contracts to obtain more favorable terms,” Hussain said of his work with boxers.
“My goal is to empower them with the tools to protect their interests and maximize their careers.”
