The Albany Gazette - Transformed PSG make statement by ousting Liverpool from Champions League

PSG were formerly almost a laughing stock around Europe for their ability to lose big Champions League knockout ties in improbable circumstances.

Yet this heavyweight last-16 showdown against the English Premier League leaders could not have contrasted more sharply with past implosions against the likes of Barcelona, Manchester United and Real Madrid.

The Parisians were superb in last week's first leg and yet still contrived to lose 1-0, leaving them up against it before going to Anfield, where Liverpool had been beaten just once this season.

But Luis Enrique's PSG went ahead early on the night through Ousmane Dembele, the forward's 29th goal this season in all competitions levelling the tie on aggregate.

That was the only goal of the 90 minutes, as PSG withstood pressure, helped by some key interventions from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, but also maintained a threat at the other end with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia outstanding and Desire Doue excellent off the bench.

They were also the better team in a goalless extra time, and held their nerve superbly in the shoot-out, scoring all four of their kicks while Donnarumma saved from Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones.

Over the last decade, Qatar-backed PSG made a habit of accumulating superstar forwards but maintaining a fragility that left them susceptible to collapsing in big European matches.

The epochal meltdown in Barcelona in 2017, when a 4-0 first-leg advantage was wiped out in a 6-1 second-leg loss, directly led to them signing Mbappe and Neymar in the two biggest transfers in football history.

There was a run to the final in the truncated, Covid-era Champions League in 2020, and a semi-final against Manchester City in 2021.

Lionel Messi then arrived, but PSG seemed to be getting further and further away from their dream of winning the competition until Luis Enrique arrived in 2023.

They got to the semi-finals last season with Mbappe leading the attack, but losing to Borussia Dortmund left an inevitable feeling of what might have been.

- 'A real team' -

Meanwhile Luis Enrique kept insisting that PSG would be better once Mbappe had gone. It turns out he was right.

"We showed we are a real team," the Spaniard told broadcaster Canal Plus on Tuesday.

PSG had a slow start in this season's Champions League, which featured defeats against Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich while Luis Enrique was criticised for refusing to play with an orthodox centre-forward.

That is all now a distant memory given how impressive PSG have been in the last three months, including 21 goals scored over a run of five straight wins in Europe before facing Liverpool.

Dembele has become one of the world's most lethal forwards, scoring 24 times in 19 appearances since mid-December.

Kvaratskhelia, the Georgian winger signed in January from Napoli, was so impressive against Liverpool that he was applauded off by the Anfield crowd when being substituted in extra time.

Doue is a fabulous talent, while pocket-sized midfielders Vitinha and Joao Neves combine technique with boundless energy.

The addition of Ecuador international Willian Pacho completes a formidable back line along with Marquinhos and full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes.

"We have no limits, but we still need to improve," captain Marquinhos, the sole survivor now from the 2017 Barcelona nightmare, said on Tuesday.

Aston Villa -- managed by Unai Emery, PSG's coach that night at the Camp Nou -- or Club Brugge await in the last eight, with Mbappe's Madrid among the possible semi-final opponents.

"Good luck to whoever comes up against PSG," said Samir Nasri, the ex-France midfielder now working as a pundit for Canal Plus, as he weighed up the possible winners of the competition.

"Barcelona can be magic in spells, but today in terms of collective, as a team, for me it is PSG who have the best team."

It is also a young team -- the average age of their starting line-up on Tuesday was under 25, compared to almost 28 for Liverpool.

Five of their starters were aged 24 or below, while substitutes Doue and Warren Zaire-Emery are just 19.

"This is just the beginning," Luis Enrique replied when asked if his side were now at their best.

(F.Jackson--TAG)