Liverpool comfortably eased past German side RB Leipzig in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League with a 2-0 win in the second leg.
Goals from African stars Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane secured the victory for the English champions to keep their hopes alive as they aim to win Champions League title number 7.
The season has been tumultuous for Jurgen Klopp’s side domestically as they may struggle to secure a Champions League spot for next season as they sit outside the top 4 in England’s Premier League.
Winning the Champions League may be their best entry into next season’s competition so they will definitely be striving to win the trophy.
Liverpool went unbeaten at Anfield for 68 consecutive games but have now lost 6 in a row at home since, which is their worst record in history.
RB Leipzig came into the game in red-hot form having won 6 Bundesliga games in a row but they seemed to be no match for the English club who squandered several chances in the first half.
Liverpool did find a breakthrough, however, in the 2nd half through Mo Salah who fired his shot past goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi in RB Leipzig’s goal to give the Reds the lead in the 70th minute.
4 minutes later, Sadio Mane put the game and the tie beyond doubt as the Senegalese star turned in a cross by Belgian Divock Origi to make it 2-0 and 4-0 on aggregate.
Jurgen Klopp was very impressed with his side’s performance and especially showered praise on Brazilian Fabinho.
Klopp’s Liverpool can win the Champions League again. (Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images)
“Fabinho is one of the best in the world at number six”, Jurgen Klopp said.
“The performance and the level we played tonight was really good and necessary.
“We did really well. Defending-wise [it] was really good. [The] front three worked well together – but missed a couple of chances in the first half.”
When asked about his side’s Champions League aspirations, Klopp said, “The only reason you play in the Champions League is to win but we are not silly.
“We will wait and see what is possible and we wait for the draw. It will be tough whoever we get.
“We are [dangerous opponents] but it is nothing really. I don’t want to create headlines about our hopes.
“We didn’t have momentum in the Premier League but we have games to get that back and that would help us in the Champions League.”
Jurgen Klopp has only lost 1 of 13 two-legged knockout ties under Jurgen Klopp and that was last season when they were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid in the round of 16.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has now scored 25 goals in all competitions this season, the most of any player for all Premier League clubs.
The quarterfinal draw for the Champions League will be held on Friday, 19th March 2021 and the teams that have qualified so far are Liverpool, FC Porto, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-German.
