Liverpool received some bad news just days before facing PSG in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal first leg. The Reds were routed and eliminated from the FA Cup on Saturday.

PSG's next Champions League opponent fell 4-0 to Manchester City in the FA Cup quarterfinals at Etihad Stadium. The defeat confirms that Liverpool is clearly not the same team as last season -- and is far from it.

It is no secret that Luis Enrique's side's greatest strength is its attack, and that is precisely where the bad news lies for Liverpool. Against City, their defense left a lot to be desired.

Virgil van Dijk conceded a penalty and lost both ground duels he was involved in during the match. He also completed just one accurate long ball out of four attempted. Ibrahima Konate did not shine either, winning two of six ground duels and two of four aerial duels.

This was Liverpool's starting lineup against Manchester City: Mamardashvili; Gomez, Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez; Jones, Gravenberch; Salah, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Ekitike.

PSG, on the other hand, is coming off a 3-1 Ligue 1 victory over Toulouse -- though it must be said that the Paris side did not play a brilliant match either, which is also bad news for Liverpool. Enrique's team produces good results with few chances.

Salah and Ekitike both had two chances in the first half, but City simply waited for their opponents' mistakes to pull away: Van Dijk conceded a very avoidable penalty on O'Reilly, after a clear penalty had already been disallowed on Cherki, and Haaland converted (39th minute). Haaland scored the second goal at the 45th+2 minute.

In the second half, the slow but steady decline of Arne Slot's men was confirmed as Semenyo scored the third goal immediately after the restart, escaping behind Van Dijk after a well-placed pass from Cherki (49th minute).

The fourth goal followed quickly, with Haaland tapping in a perfect cutback from O'Reilly, who had once again made a run behind the opposing defense, easily catching them out of position (57th minute). Salah could have salvaged some pride with a penalty foolishly conceded by Nunes, but Stafford saved the Egyptian's shot (64th minute).

The end of the match was largely uneventful, but Slot at least used the opportunity to rest some players, with the Reds' best player, Ekitike, coming off after the missed penalty he had won (67th minute). Gravenberch also played for only about an hour, as did Wirtz -- three players who featured heavily during the international break. Salah was substituted in the final 15 minutes, while Frimpong, who was not seriously injured, played the last half-hour.

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