UK media calls Liverpool 'a club worried' as brutal PSG game verdict delivered

Liverpool was beaten 2-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of its Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday, with the Reds facing an uphill battle in the return leg

Arne Slot's side suffered another defeat on Wednesday(Image: Getty Images)

Liverpool's Champions League semifinal aspirations suffered a significant setback as Paris Saint-Germain claimed a commanding 2-0 victory in the first leg at Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

Goals from Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia inflicted further misery on Arne Slot's side, marking their 16th defeat of the season. Liverpool.com provided comprehensive coverage of the game, with match verdicts, player ratings, post-match analysis and reactions from Slot and his PSG counterpart, Luis Enrique, all available to read on our pages.

National media correspondents from the United Kingdom were in attendance in Paris to offer their own assessments of proceedings — here is what they made of the Reds' defeat...

Oliver Holt — Daily Mail

Holt wrote in the Daily Mail: "Before the game, the home fans in the La Tribune Auteuil behind one of the goals unveiled a giant banner that depicted the Incredible Hulk dressed in the colours of PSG.

"Ferocious and grim, he was holding a Liverpool crest in his hands, tearing it asunder. It was a picture that spoke a thousand words because this is a Liverpool divided. This is a Liverpool weakened by internal strife and tortured by the growing antipathy of the fan-base towards manager Arne Slot and his beleaguered players.

"This is a club worried that a schism is growing between fans and players."

Liverpool faces an uphill battle in the second leg(Image: Getty Images)

Holt added: "The institution that is Liverpool is creaking and groaning and PSG are not the team to play when life is hard. In this Champions League quarter-final first leg, PSG grabbed at those fraying seams and ripped them apart."

Richard Jolly — The Independent

Jolly wrote in The Independent: "A night when Arne Slot abandoned the basis of his system – and, some would say, his principles – in favour of pragmatism brought a damage-limitation exercise that might be bracketed as a qualified success.

"Because Liverpool, walloped 4-0 at Manchester City on Saturday, only lost 2-0 to the European champions. Liverpool looked outclassed. They are not quite out of this tie.

"It might have been worse, whether with a repeat of their failings at the Etihad Stadium, or without the excellence of Giorgi Mamardashvili. When Liverpool were a goal down after 11 minutes, with a different shape and precious little possession, it threatened to be another rout. Instead, there was an exercise in concentration and improvised organisation."

Mike McGrath — The Telegraph

McGrath wrote in The Telegraph: "There was no sign of the white flag being waved, yet Liverpool had no answer to the attacking football in front of them here in Paris, embodied by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's wonder goal. He danced around opponents in the style of George Best before scoring and effectively sealing this tie.

"Liverpool have produced some of the greatest comebacks in Champions League history and it will take another to turn this around next week. They failed to lay a glove on the European champions, who could have added to the scoreline just like Manchester City at the weekend, when Virgil van Dijk admitted some players had given up.

"Arne Slot's players could not be accused of that at Parc des Princes, but their body language raised the question: how can they score a goal against this PSG team?

"The reality is their season is now going to rest on whether they finish in the Premier League top five and be among Europe's elite next season. This current team are playing like Thursday nights in the Europa League are on the horizon."