Liverpool turns on style to dismantle Galatasaray
Liverpool put its indifferent form behind it and marched into the Champions League quarter-finals as it dismantled Galatasaray 4-0 at Anfield, for a 4-1 aggregate win.
Galatasaray had beaten the Premier League champions twice at home this season, including last week's 1-0 first-leg win, but was no match for a Liverpool side which played with a determination and energy rarely seen this season.
"I think we did a great job tonight. We could win 10-0, we missed a few chances, but we did still a good job," Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike said.
"We can be proud of ourselves tonight and we can look forward to the quarter-final."
Dominik Szoboszlai put Liverpool in front in the 25th minute and it could have been ahead on aggregate before the break but Mohamed Salah had a penalty saved. The host ran riot after the break, with goals from Ekitike, Ryan Gravenberch and Salah.
Liverpool will play defending champion Paris St Germain, which saw off Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate, in the quarter-finals.
Liverpool looked comfortable from the off and went in front from a well-worked set-piece.
Szoboszlai raced into the area unmarked to guide home a side-footed shot from Alexis Mac Allister's corner and Liverpool's energy levels rose even further after the goal.
Salah should probably have doubled the lead minutes later when through one-on-one with the keeper, but his attempted lob was saved by Ugurcan Cakir.
Florian Wirtz had a shot deflected over as Liverpool continued to pile forward and Cakir parried away a powerful Szoboszlai effort.
The visitor wasd hanging on under extreme pressure to keep the tie level on aggregate going into the break when Ismail Jakobs fouled Szoboszlai in the area.
Salah stepped up, but his tame penalty down the middle gave Cakir time to make the stop with his trailing leg and the keeper was called on again just before the halftime whistle, making a double save from Salah and Wirtz in quick succession.
Liverpool came roaring out of the blocks after the interval, Salah rolling a pass across the box for Ekitike to score in the 51st minute and two minutes later Cakir denied Salah again only for Gravenberch to net the rebound.
"When I sat in the locker room at halftime, I was thinking we need to kill this game," Ekitike said.
"I had my chance. I could have scored more tonight, to be honest, but I had my chance. And then I think we felt more free and yeah, Ryan scored straight away."
Galatasaray defender Wilfried Singo put the ball into his own net but the goal was ruled out for Jeremie Frimpong's offside,yet Liverpool killed the tie off in the 62nd minute.
Salah made up for his penalty miss with a sumptuous curled shot from outside the area to score his 50th Champions League goal and the Egyptian forward later hit the crossbar as Liverpool continued to show no mercy.
There was an altogether different atmosphere at Anfield compared to the weekend 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur when the final whistle was greeted with boos from the Liverpool fans who had not already left.
Salah was applauded and cheered off the pitch when replaced before a long stoppage took the sting out of the game as Galatasaray's Noa Lang injured his hand when colliding with the advertising hoardings behind the goal.
PSG knocked Liverpool out on penalties at the last-16 stage last season, when Arne Slot's side was comfortably on course to win the Premier League.
This time around, Liverpool is battling to secure a place in next season's Champions League, sitting fifth in the Premier League, but this performance against Galatasaray will restore some much-needed confidence.
