Liverpool edged out on penalties to exceptional PSG | Man Utd announce surprise 100,000 stadium move
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Welcome to Back Pages, bringing you everything you need to know about the biggest sports stories making the headlines in the morning's newspapers. I'm David Garrido and joining me are Jack Ross, a sports reporter for The Sun and The Times football reporter Charlotte Dunker. Welcome along to you both.

All right, welcome once again to Jack, welcome once again to Charlotte. Let's start off, and we have to don't we, with a dramatic night at Anfield. Liverpool knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain losing 1-0 on the night, 1-1 on aggregate and after extra time 4-1 on penalties. Let's go to the Telegraph shall we and the headline French fried Liverpool suffer PSG penalty pay. Just how agonising was this for Liverpool Charlotte?

Yeah, it was a really disappointing night for them, wasn't it? I think everyone's talking about how big of a setback is it under slot. And I think that just shows how successful they've been this season and what a good job that he's done that we're sat here. This is only the second time that they've lost to Anfield this season. They're going to win the Premier League.

The only other time that they've lost is obviously they got knocked out of the FA Cup. They've got a League Cup final to come at the weekend and they were edged out on penalties by an exceptional PSG team. I think over the two legs, both legs were fantastic. Both goalkeepers had huge parts to play in the game. I thought Donnarumma tonight was excellent. Liverpool, I thought, played a lot better tonight.

in this leg than they did in the first leg. And I think it was just unfortunate if they'd managed to take those chances. They have multiple chances in the second half to win the tie. If they'd managed to take them, then obviously it'd be a whole different story. But

Obviously a really disappointing night for them, but I don't think it should be blown out of proportion and being described as a huge setback. Because I think in the grand scheme of where they are in the slot and what they are going to achieve under him this season, there's still so much more to come from them. Yeah, I mean, you know, under Jurgen Klopp, it took a while, didn't it? To sort of bed in, you know, first final appearance, first trophy and then the domination that followed.

So perhaps it's easy to expect a lot from Arnaz slot so early. You mentioned Gianluigi Donnarumma, Chad. Jack, let me put this one to you. I think, you know, this man has history, has previous, doesn't he, of those massive performances in big games in this country.

Certainly does. He's a funny one, isn't he? Because there are moments in the game where you think, especially after what Alisson did last week, there were a couple of saves where he managed to get the ball but maybe let it slip and fell into a dangerous area. But as the game went on, he just started stepping up and PSG were much better throughout the extra time. And then he just looks so imposing in that goal when it comes to the penalty shootout. The Nunes penalty isn't actually that bad. The Jones one's a bit more central. They're not

it's not two terrible penalties that have let Liverpool go out there. Two very good saves from Donnarumma and he is someone that clearly thrives when you get this big moment. England fans obviously remember him doing it for Italy in the final at Wembley and he's done it again here. It was an incredible, incredible game. Liverpool,

weren't great in the first day but managed to hold on and get through you then think with the way they started tonight as well that they'd be feeling confident especially with their being at Anfield and the record they've got there and not only under slot but in Europe in general and it's maybe just unfortunate that they've met the first

PSG team for years that have got some sort of a backbone and are able to stand up to bigger clubs and get through nights like these so Charlotte's right it is disappointing tonight I think you know the way they've been going the fact the Premier League's completely wrapped up almost they've almost you can put a bit more focus in the Champions League but it still can be an incredible season for Liverpool if they win that league title that no one expected them to do at the start of the season

Charlotte, I just sort of wonder how much Liverpool fans might be thinking about what might have been here. I mean, it's so rare for Liverpool, a team like Liverpool, to win a first leg away and then go out of the tie. I mean, you know, it's barely happened, isn't it? But then also when you look at what would have been probably Aston Villa, threw one up against Club Rouge.

for a place in the semi-finals and then you know you think well look you know we're only you know another 180 minutes away from a potential final do you think they would have been there thinking oh do you know what we would have fancied ourselves in that quarterfinal against Villa?

I covered Villa away in Bruges last week and was speaking to some Villa fans who were confident of beating Villa over the two legs, Liverpool, sorry, over the two legs if they got them. So I think dismissing Aston Villa as being a small fry, I think it's going to upset a few fans. But yeah, I get where you're coming from in terms of Liverpool, in terms of what

could have been but look what could have been in the first leg if Allison hadn't had that absolutely unbelievable performance and then Harvey Elliott scored that last gasp winner then they wouldn't have been in the position that we were expecting them to go through tonight so I think it's

really one of them where it's just unfortunate with the way that the draws fall and I think PSG look like they're the strongest team in the competition. Liverpool have come up against them tonight and they were equal to them over the two legs if we look at the result, one all over the two legs, wasn't it? So I think it is just a case of unlucky

with the way that the draw's fallen. They can't think of, oh, what might have been if Mo Salah had taken them chances in the first half, if Donnarumma hadn't made them saves in the second half. It is just one of them. If those penalties had gone in, it's just fine margins. And unfortunately for Liverpool, they didn't go their way tonight. Yeah, it really is. It's kind of the definition of fine margins, you know, losing on penalties, I guess.

Jack, now of course Liverpool turn their attention to Sunday, Carabao Cup final live on Sky against Newcastle. What will have taken the greater toll, the extra 30 minutes plus penalties or the sort of the psychology, the mental aspects of this?

I think probably the psychological thing will be a big one we saw Mo Salah in the end in tears at the end you've also got to think is that the last time you see him, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold playing in a Champions League game for Liverpool given their contract situations it'll be a very emotional one you've got

leaders in there like Virgil van Dijk who always comes out and speaks very well in terms of the focus so he will be confident that they can get back up for it but the other thing of course is the injuries Slotts already said that he's not sure whether Trent Alexander-Arnold is going to be fit to face Newcastle Canate came off as well I think that that maybe was more tiredness but that shows just how much they had to put in tonight it was an incredibly intense

hard work from both teams. They both put an awful lot into it. I was at Newcastle's game last night. They weren't fantastic, but they looked a bit more solid, a bit more confident and would have taken a lot of confidence from

Getting a win to go into this final, having not only played a day earlier, but having not had to play anything like the time and the intensity that Liverpool did. So a lot of it will go into it. I think the emotion might count just a little bit more than the tired legs these players are used to having to play intense games on a regular basis. But it's going to be a lot more of a challenge now. They've gone, you know, the start of this week, you maybe start hearing talk of a treble. You could lose two legs of that in one week now.

What do you think, Charlton, is how it stacks up for Sunday? Because potentially, you know, Trent Alexander-Arnold for Liverpool. Do you think, you know, Eddie Howe might be thinking about that and how he might potentially tweak his approach given what he's seen tonight?

Yeah, I think the injuries are obviously going to be a concern and the further down the week we get closer to the final, it's going to become more apparent and obvious how bad those injuries, Trent Alexander and Kanate, are because they're two really big portions of Liverpool's defence and slot will want them both to be fit. So that's going to be the biggest consideration for slot and for, like you say, Eddie Howe going into that game. But the punditry team were saying after the game there that,

this is the best game that Liverpool could have after being knocked out a final. It's not just another run-of-the-mill league game where you've got to try and pick yourself up and get over this defeat. It's a chance for silverware. It's a chance for the first silverware of slots rain at Liverpool. It's a chance for them not just to get over getting knocked out of the Champions League, but to win something. So,

In some ways, I think it's maybe the best sort of game that they could have to follow this Champions League exit because they have no choice but to dust themselves up and go again. Because in the league, maybe that might be slightly harder because it's become a bit of a procession, isn't it? We all expect Liverpool to lift the title, but this is a game. It's a must-win game. So I think it'll be interesting to see if they've got that mental strength and if we see just how good this Liverpool team are.

It's funny, isn't it? You know, as soon as we get to this part of the season, or maybe just, you know, a few weeks ago, if there is a team that's still in all competitions, you mentioned that quadruple word. And it feels like, you know, it's a little bit of a curse, to be honest. We did a big graphic on Sky Sports News that here's Liverpool in the fourth round of the cup. Here's Liverpool, you know, having their points adrift in the Premier League. Look, if they do go and win the League Cup, Jack, and as Charlotte says, well, you know, they've pretty much won the Premier League.

Would that be a reasonable season for Arne Slott, first time out the box with Liverpool? Do you think he himself would have settled and signed for that? Absolutely, it would be a fantastic season for Arne Slott. I think the first time he's coming in to the Premier League, a manager that was relatively unknown to a lot of English football fans, having to take the mantle from Jurgen Klopp, an incredibly significant and big presence on Merseyside, someone that has taken this club to immense success in his time there up against one of the best clubs

in Manchester City that English football has ever seen going head to head with them slots benefited a bit in terms that Manchester City have fallen off a cliff and Arsenal have had a number of injuries and problems all season but you've still got to be there to do it they've been incredibly dangerous incredibly efficient in the way they've gone about it and

And he's also, we've got to remember, he signed one player all season and we've not really seen much of him. What he's done is reshape a lot of players into something quite incredible. Diaz is playing fantastically. Mo Salah has gone to another height completely again this season. And you look at players like Gravenberch in midfield that look like they might be on their way out at some point and are now key, key parts of Arnistot's time, I think.

At the start of the season, if you'd given Liverpool fans an honest lot top four and a run at one of the cups, they definitely would have taken it. So while it will be disappointing tonight, considering the position they got themselves in after an incredibly difficult first leg last week, this can still be a brilliant season for him, especially given it's his first season, having to follow on from that legacy when so many other managers trying to take over from a big manager.

leaving a club have really struggled. We've seen that so often and Slotts managed to do it with ease, really. Yeah, I think a Premier League title, a top division title for Liverpool would certainly soften the blow from tonight. There's no doubt about that. You mentioned, Charlotte, that you covered Villa recently and that they've been confident they could beat Liverpool over two legs. How confident they will be potentially against PSG?

Oh, I'm not too sure. Those supporters seemed very confident that they would beat Liverpool, but weren't too keen on me in Paris. I mean, anyone who has watched PSG over those two legs against Liverpool, sorry, will just know how much quality they have in that team, I think.

Liverpool have even said that they were the best opponents that they've come up against this season. They've obviously already played Aston Villa, so that says how they rank against them. And I think if, I think everyone expects Aston Villa to beat Club Bruges tomorrow and go through, obviously they've got a two goal advantage to take into the home leg at Villa Park tomorrow. Everyone expects them to go through, but that would be such a tough, tough tie for Unai Emery. But it's going back to his old club. Stranger things have happened. You never know what can happen.

happen but yeah I know it's going to be a really tough task for Villa if they get through but they've been quite consistent in the Champions League this season so football's a funny old sport you wouldn't bet anything past them. Let's get to the story that is dominating the sports pages Manchester United's plans for a new 100,000 seater stadium let's have a look at the back page of the Mirror who

who call them risky devils, vision of a new Old Trafford. Actually, let's start off with that. The vision, the visuals. Jack, when you saw what this new stadium might look like, did you think, oh, that looks cool? Or did you think Butlin's... I thought it was hideous when I first saw it, if I'm honest. It's certainly ambitious. It's certainly something very different. It looks absolutely nothing like a football stadium from...

the outside, but I suppose, you know, Jim Ratcliffe's been speaking about shooting for something iconic and it's certainly something that will be memorable when people see it. Something that, you know, once it's built, I'll certainly want to go and have a look at and see what it's all about. So I think they're ticking some of the right boxes there. The Trident aspect of the three towers,

was not something that I don't think many people had twigged until it was explained to them, which is perhaps a little unfortunate. But it's certainly something very, very unique. And I think that's what clubs are striving for when they're going for these games.

huge and very, very expensive infrastructure projects inside. It looks like an incredibly modern, amazing stadium if they can pull it off. The idea of regenerating the whole area is something that will be very attractive as well. But whether local people want to put up with that

huge, huge structure and those three rather eyesore towers is another question they'll have to get past among many. But I guess the look also inevitably is going to lead to references like circus and things like that. Charlotte, what do you make of it? What's the most striking aspect of this whole thing for you?

When I first saw it, I thought it looked like a circus tent, which given how we've been talking about Manchester United and their performances on the pitch this season seemed pretty apt. And I'm not sure when these multi-million pound plans were being drawn up that that was what they probably wanted people to think first. I also think it doesn't scream out, like Jack said, it doesn't scream out football stadium. And I think that's

When you read a lot and there's been lots of comments and statements from fan groups that have already come out about the concerns to, obviously there's a lot of excitement around it, but a lot of concerns about it as well. And I think that is one of the concerns that it comes across as a corporate structure. It comes across as somewhere where they could hold lots of concerts.

which is obviously the plan as well. They want it to generate millions and millions, up to billions of pounds, obviously. So they want it to be, as Jim Ratcliffe said, like the Eiffel Tower of the North, where people go and people want to see this stadium. But to me, when you compare, when you look at what Old Trafford looks like now, it's an iconic football stadium.

historic. You compare the two and they're nothing like each other. I know that that's the point. This is supposed to be Manchester United in the future. This is supposed to be moving away from that. This is supposed to be a new era for the club and

I get that. But to me, I don't know, it just doesn't look like a football stadium. So I think that's probably the least of their concerns, what we think of what it looks like aesthetically. If they can be selling out 100,000 seats a stadium, which I know they're more than confident that they can for every single game, the ambition for it should be applauded, really. The one word that comes up in a lot of the paper headlines or comments

derivatives of or synonyms for is risk or risky. Jack, how much of a risk is it? Spending be costing two billion pounds, they're already a billion in debt.

It's a massive risk. It's one that feels quite bizarre at the moment given that Jim Ratcliffe was out yesterday saying the club could be bust by Christmas and then overnight had a look down the back of the sofa and found £2 billion for a brand new stadium and complex and everything else that goes with it which is a very bizarre one but they have got that huge £1 billion debt that they're paying off and servicing as you mentioned and you've also got the

the fact that given their short-term financial problems that they are working to fix and you've got the fact that they need to invest in the team over that time to keep Manchester United competitive. They want to become the most profitable club in the world within three years. They're not going to do that without playing European football and competing right at the top. So they've got to clearly, given where they are on the table at the moment, build a squad that is capable of doing that. And that takes more money. We've seen with clubs in the past, Arsenal,

famously struggled when they were funding the Emirates to compete at the level that they once did under Arsene Wenger and it was something he referenced a lot towards the end of his career Manchester United have targeted winning the title in the next three years Rick Ratcliffe and Omar Barada have been talking that up again

this week so it's going to be incredibly challenging to marry the two of investing in the squad to a level that is needed to pull them a hell of a long way up to compete and be at the level of a performance that we saw from someone like PSG or Liverpool tonight as well as Manchester City and Arsenal over the last few years that is a lot of investment that's needed and if you've got this sort of

infrastructure project going on alongside it, you're going to need a lot of money from elsewhere to be able to do both at one time. Yeah, let's talk about that with Charlotte. I mean, you know, this is the big question. Where is the money coming from to build this thing? And is it contingent on United somehow cracking out their A game at some point in the next, you know, rest of this season and next season to then get themselves into positions where they are earning through, you know, the prizes they win and the football they're playing on the continent?

I think the reality is that upon unveiling these plans today, that Varada didn't actually have an answer as to where exactly this £2 billion for this stadium is going to come from. But they seem confident that they're going to get that. There's multiple ways that you spoke about that. More shares could be released. Shareholders could put more money into it. And I think the main thing is external investment. Manchester United, as a brand, are one of the biggest brands in the world.

there will be despite the fact that Manchester United are 14th in the league and despite the fact they don't look like they're going to qualify for Europe next season unless they win the Europa League I

There are going to be so many companies across the world, so many brands who are interested in investing in this stadium, the project, the regeneration project. And if they can get enough companies on board to give money, then that's going to help snowball effect. There's also, there's different things they could sell. The naming rights of the stadium they're talking about, they could sell the naming rights of the fan zone. There's so many different ways that they can generate the money. But the biggest thing, and I think a lot of what the fan groups are concerned about is that the

fans aren't the ones that are going to pick up the receipts for this. The fans shouldn't be the ones that have to pay for this at all. The fans were...

surveyed before to see if they wanted a new stadium or whether they wanted Old Trafford to be regenerated and 53% I think it was said they preferred a new one which is one of the reasons why they've gone down this route but if you read any of the statements from the fan groups they're all concerned and the biggest concern is that they don't believe that the fans should be the ones who have to pay obviously Manchester United are a billion pounds in debt so there's going to have to be a lot of plates spinning a lot of new investment a lot of different creative ways to

of getting money into this project whilst also making sure that the team on the pitch aren't suffering and Ruben Amorim needs money to invest in his squad in the summer if they're going to improve for next season. So there's going to have to be lots of different ways of investment that are considered before this project can finally start moving. We've got roughly about a minute left, Jack. Just what would you say is the strength of the fan sentiment right now towards this project, given the overall context within EOS?

I think it's clear that there's a lot of excitement about it. There's been a few statements today, I think, from the 1958 group about it looking soulless and not perhaps what they wanted, which I think there will be fans that will definitely want to stay at Old Trafford and just have that improved a bit. But I think going there, you realise that there's a lot of excitement about it.

They're falling so far behind so many of their rivals, not only in the Premier League, but across Europe. So this is something that is needed and you've got to keep moving forward. But as Charlotte mentioned there, the biggest thing, there's been a lot of anger towards Ineos and the Glazers and Ratcliffe for the sort of penny pinching that's been going on and taking a little bit here when there are huge holes to be filled. The one thing they will not want them to come for again is the ticket prices. They've already had an increase in

If fans see that that's the way that this stadium is being funded, then there'll be a very, very toxic feeling towards it. And that is not what Ineos and Jim Ratcliffe or the whole club will want towards this. What should be an incredibly ambitious and incredibly exciting and positive project going forward. That should be the focus. And ticket prices aren't something that can distract from that. We're going to have to leave it there. Thank you, Jack. Thank you, Charlotte.