Ekitike Injury Shakes Liverpool's Champions League Hopes
Anfield fell silent long before the final whistle. The noise drained away just before the half-hour mark, when Hugo Ekitike crumpled to the turf with nobody near him and Liverpool’s season seemed to shudder with him.
No clash, no heavy challenge. Just a routine touch, a slip – and then alarm.
The 23-year-old, starting up front in the second leg of Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain, immediately signalled he was in trouble. Medical staff rushed on. Within moments, the stretcher followed.
On a night when Liverpool were already chasing a 2-0 deficit from the first leg, this was the last thing Arne Slot needed.
Alan Shearer, on commentary duty for Amazon Prime, captured the unease as replays showed the incident. “Ekitike went to control the ball and he sort of slipped over. He looks to be in pain,” he said. “They are saying he has to come off. It doesn't look good at all.”
It didn’t look good from any angle.
From the BBC Radio 5 Live gantry, former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock picked up on the striker’s immediate concern. “There was nobody around Hugo Ekitike and he has damaged his ankle. He is pointing towards his Achilles which is a real concern,” Warnock said. “He got back up, and he just collapsed to the floor. Marquinhos had hold of his hand, and he is in agony.”
Those last words will chill Liverpool’s medical department. An Achilles problem at this stage of the season would be brutal for player and club alike.
For Ekitike, the timing could hardly be worse. The France international has been pushing to cement his place in Didier Deschamps’ plans for the World Cup. A significant lay-off now would threaten that ambition, just as he was starting to find his feet at Anfield after arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer.
His connection to PSG only sharpened the sting. Ekitike spent a spell with the French champions earlier in his career, scoring four goals in 33 appearances. This was a chance to hurt his former club on the biggest stage. Instead, he left it strapped to a stretcher, head bowed, to a sympathetic ripple of applause.
The injury also reopens a wound Liverpool thought was finally beginning to heal. Alexander Isak, the club’s other major attacking signing, had only just returned in the first leg in Paris after fracturing his leg in December. Slot had been waiting months to see his forward line at something close to full power. Within half an hour at Anfield, that vision was gone again.
The reshuffle was immediate and symbolic. Mohamed Salah stepped off the bench to replace Ekitike, potentially making his final European appearance for Liverpool with a summer exit looming. One era trying to drag another out of danger.
Liverpool needed goals, and quickly. Out of both domestic cups, their Premier League title already gone, the Champions League represented the last remaining route to silverware. PSG’s 2-0 advantage from the first leg had flattered Liverpool, if anything; the French side could easily have been out of sight.
So when Ekitike went down, it wasn’t just a player in distress. It was the sight of a season’s last gamble losing another chip.
The game moved on, as it always does, but the image of the 23-year-old clutching at his lower leg, pointing towards the Achilles area, will linger. For Liverpool, the next scan may prove as decisive as any late goal. For Ekitike, the question now is not just when he plays again for his club – but whether he still boards that plane with France.
