Curtis Jones has joined an unwanted club following his penalty heartache in Liverpool's surprise defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Liverpool were dumped out of the competition by the French champions on spot kicks, after a 1-1 draw on aggregate across the two legs.
Darwin Nunez stepped up second after Mohamed Salah converted, but was denied by Gianluigi Donnarumma, before Jones also saw his effort kept out by the Italian goalkeeper.
PSG were perfect from the spot, scoring all four penalties, becoming the first club to ever knock Liverpool out of a European tie after losing the first leg at home.
Jones joins Terry in unwanted feat
By missing from the spot tonight, Jones has become just the second English player ever to miss in a Champions League penalty shootout.
The other was, famously, John Terry in the 2008 Champions League final in Moscow for Chelsea against Manchester United, which also ultimately led to a defeat.
Jones had previously taken a penalty in a shootout for Liverpool, converting in the Community Shield final defeat to Arsenal in 2020, but there was no such success for him this time around.
Manager Arne Slot will hope that penalties are not required at the weekend when they will compete in the EFL Cup final against Newcastle United, even though Liverpool have good recent history in that regard in the competition.
© Imago
Liverpool suffer rare Anfield shootout defeat
Tonight also saw Liverpool lose a European penalty shootout at Anfield for the first time, after winning their only previous one against Chelsea in the 2007 semi-finals.
The Reds were beaten by Besiktas in the Europa League in 2015, but won both of their other two shootouts on the continent, most notably the memorable 2005 UCL final against AC Milan, as well as in the UEFA Super Cup final against Chelsea once more in 2019.
This marks just the second time Liverpool have lost a home shootout in front of a crowd at Anfield, with the first occasion coming back during the infamous reign of Roy Hodgson in 2010 against League Two Northampton Town.
It brings to an end Liverpool's four-game unbeaten run in penalty shootouts, which included winning two on the way to EFL Cup glory in 2021-22, including in the final against Chelsea, a feat they repeated in the FA Cup final versus the same opponents that season.
Andrew Delaney
