'Total domination' as 'daft' Liverpool lose again in big blow to Champions League hopes

Liverpool's miserable season has continued after being outclassed 2-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Thursday (AEST).

Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored goals in each half for the defending champions, who should have won by more at Parc des Princes.

It appeared certain that PSG would be awarded a penalty in added time when Ibrahima Konate clearly shoved a goal-bound Nuno Mendes in the back.

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But referee Jose Maria Sanchez waved play on and VAR bizarrely agreed with him.

"It's a penalty, it's a shove, it's daft," Ally McCoist said in commentary.

Liverpool unsuccessfully set up with a defensive gameplan but failed to get a single shot on target.

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"Total domination," Steven Gerrard said.

Liverpool are the defending Premier League champions but sit fifth on the ladder and are well out of the title race.

Doue put the hostsdefending champions ahead in the 11th minute with a deflected effort.

Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele showed great technique under pressure on the edge of the penalty area before flicking the ball left to Doue, whose deflected shot looped over Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili and under the crossbar.

Mamardashvili atoned with a fine close-range save late in the first half from Doue, again set up by Dembele.

But Kvaratskhelia added another solo goal to his collection.

After a 27 pass sequence, the Georgia star cut in from the left flank midway through the second half and, with typically quick feet, skipped past a defender and Mamardashvili before stroking in his team-leading seventh goal of the competition.

When the two teams met last season in the round of 16, PSG advanced on penalties after losing 1-0 at home and winning 1-0 at Anfield.

The task seems less difficult this time around for PSG with Liverpool facing a trophy-less season.

However, six-time champions Liverpool overcame a 3-0 first leg loss against Barcelona in the 2019 semi-finals before winning 4-0 at home.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot's team were already reeling from a crushing 4-0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester City.

Slot made five substitutions but kept Mohamed Salah on the bench the whole game.

Salah has yet to find his best form in his last season at the club, with only 10 goals in 35 games so far.

He missed a penalty in the FA Cup loss to City last weekend.

The second leg is at Anfield next week.

In Spain, Atletico Madrid upset Barcelona 2-0 at Camp Nou.

The match swung when Pau Gubarsi was sent off just before halftime.

Julian Alvarez converted the resulting free kick with a superb strike before Alexander Sorloth doubled the advantage in the second half.

The game-changing sequence started when Atletico's Giuliano Simeone broke free to latch onto a rare long ball and Barcelona defender Cubarsi knocked him down on the edge of the area with only goalkeeper Joan Garcia to beat.

After initially showing Cubarsi a yellow card, the referee changed it to a red following a video review.

It got worse for Barcelona seconds later when Julian Alvarez curled the resulting free kick around the defensive barrier and past a flying Garcia for the 45th minute lead.

Lamine Yamal and Marcus Rashford tried to rally Barcelona at Camp Nou and kept the pressure on Atletico despite being undermanned.

But that fightback effort was undone when substitute striker Sorloth shrugged off a challenge by Gerard Martin as he moved to the near post and tapped in a cross from Matteo Ruggeri to double the lead with 20 minutes to play.

The second leg is in Madrid next week. - with AP