Liverpool fell to a 1-0 defeat to PSG on Tuesday evening with the French side going through after extra-time following a 4-1 penalty shootout win in the Champions League last-16 second leg to send Arne Slot’s side packing
Jamie Carragher reckoned Liverpool started the penalty shootout with Paris Saint-Germain on the defensive in their Champions League clash all because of a controversial coin toss.
Arne Slot’s men lost 4-1 on spot-kicks after PSG battled back from a first leg deficit thanks to a 1-0 win courtesy of an Ousmane Dembele goal.
It was heartbreak for Reds fans as Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones failed to score from the spot, leaving Mohamed Salah’s successful penalty as cold comfort at Anfield.
Yet it was the pre-shootout drama that really caught Carragher’s attention – with Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk, PSG captain Marquinhos and ref Istvan Kovacs involved.
A coin was flipped, giving PSG the choice of pitch end for penalties. Curiously, the Parisians then also got first crack at the shootout which, according to Liverpool legend Carragher, isn’t normally how things go down, reports the Mirror.
He expressed his bemusement, saying: “One thing I couldn’t work out with the penalties was, obviously there was a coin toss with Virgil van Dijk [and PSG’s captain].
“PSG must’ve won it to take it to the other end [away from the Kop] but then also took the first penalty. So I wasn’t quite sure what happened there.
“Normally you only get one advantage and the other team gets the first penalty… but PSG deserved to go through.”
While scratching his head over Liverpool’s seemingly tough deal, ex-Premier League ref Mark Clattenburg swooped in with some insight while commentating, pointing out: “I think Liverpool would love it at the Kop, of course, but it’s down to the referee.
“It’s the referee’s call on which side it is on the coin. It will be one side for one side of the coin and the other side of the pitch for the other side of the coin.
“Then the captains will decide and if he’s the lucky one he’ll decide either to take the first or second penalty. But it’s the referee’s call on the first coin toss at which end it will be.”
Clattenburg was then asked whether the police had the power to change the location of the penalties due to any potential trouble between the opposing groups of supporters.
And he suggested they did, but due to there being little hostility in the stands, it was unlikely for the end to be switched just moments before the start of the shootout.
And PSG fans made sure to take full advantage of the decision. One French supporter was heard shouting through a megaphone in support of his side, while he could be heard booing and playing a siren as Liverpool stars stepped up to take their own efforts.