Arne Slot would be forgiven for thinking some things are simply destined not to be. Having waited almost all season for a chance to unleash his new-look Liverpool attack, for only the second time the Reds boss felt able to field Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak in the same XI.
But when Liverpool finally began to pick holes in the Paris Saint-Germain defence in the second half to raise hopes of an unlikely comeback, the near-£200million strikeforce of Ekitike and Isak was nowhere to be seen.
The former had departed on a stretcher in the first half while the latter was wisely given only until the interval on his first start since December.
After just 88 previous minutes together on the pitch at the same time, the trio may have to wait for some time to be reunited given the feared gravity of Ekitike’s injury. What should have been a first glimpse of the future ended up becoming fleeting.
It all made for a sad Champions League farewell for Mohamed Salah, who, having replaced the stricken Ekitike, began brightly and created one chance for Milos Kerkez but faded the longer the game progressed.
There was poignancy to his farewell as he was the last Liverpool player to leave the field after saluting the Kop.
Liverpool still have Trent question
No names were mentioned. But when Slot said beforehand it would be difficult to replicate last season’s approach against PSG due to different personnel, it wasn’t difficult to ascertain to whom the Liverpool boss was referring.
While Luis Diaz and Trent Alexander-Arnold were in action for the Reds last year, now they are in opposition in another Champions League quarter-final with Bayern Munich taking on Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Liverpool have struggled to replace both players, the issues at right-back this season well documented whileCody Gakpo has too often been in disappointing form on the left.
Slot here opted to employ the 4-2-2-2 formation to which he has regularly turned during the Champions League campaign this season. It put significant onus on Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong to provide threat from out wide.
But while Kerkez was one of Liverpool’s best performers, a poor first half from Frimpong saw him hooked at the break for Joe Gomez, who in turn only managed to get midway through the second half before also going off.
With the injured Conor Bradley having not been seen since early January, it underlined the Reds are not even close to adapting to life after Alexander-Arnold.
So much for the Champions League. Now for the Champions League.
Such will be the focus for Liverpool during the closing weeks of the season as their exit from the competition will redouble efforts to ensure they retain their berth for next season.
While PSG followed Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atalanta in becoming the fourth visiting team to win twice at Anfield in European competition, the Reds’ overall performance merited better than another 2-0 reverse.
And there was certainly enough during their impressive second-half showing up until Ousmane Dembele’s decisive first goal to offer encouragement for the remaining weeks.
With Liverpool still to face five of the teams immediately around them in the Premier League, they now simply must move forward with the positives of this frustrating evening, starting at neighbours Everton on Sunday.
Failure to do so could lead to losing their place at Europe’s top table. And for that they would have only themselves to blame.
Ian Doyle has covered Liverpool for more than 25 years, following them across Europe in multiple Champions League and Europa League finals and as far afield as Thailand, Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong and Qatar, and has reported on the Reds winning every major honour. He previously also covered Everton for 18 years and has followed England, reporting on the European Championships and World Cup final. Once had to tell Jude Law he does not drive a Mini.
