After a disappointing few weeks, the pressure eased slightly on Arne Slot as Liverpool produced one of their best performances of the season to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals with an impressive victory over Galatasaray.
Trailing 1-0 after the first leg, the host needed to score and they did early on through Dominik Szoboszlai’s brilliant side-footed strike from a low corner in the 25th minute that levelled the aggregate score.
In a season when Liverpool have struggled for fluency and potency, this was a night when Slot’s men made an impression. The hosts had 32 attempts on goal and could have ended the evening with far more goals than the four they actually scored. They were worthy winners and deserve their place in the last eight, where they will meet defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, the side which beat them in the competition last year.
Once Szoboszlai scored, the decibels inside Anfield increased and the chances came thick and fast for the hosts.
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First, Mohamed Salah squandered a close-range chance after a Galatasaray defensive blunder. Florian Wirtz, from six yards, then had a shot deflected over the crossbar and, from the resultant corner, Alexis Mac Allister’s header rattled the crossbar. The impressive Szoboszlai from distance drew a diving save from Galatasaray’s overworked goalkeeper, Ugurcan Cakir, before he saved a poor Salah penalty just before the break.
Eventually, Cakir was beaten in the second half as a series of sublime one-touch passes culminated in Salah feeding Hugo Ekitike before Ryan Gravenberch scored to make it three. After 61 minutes, the tie was over as Salah found the top-left corner for his 50th goal in the competition.
Gregg Evans, at Anfield, and Mark Carey analyse the main talking points.
Liverpool’s fast start set the tone
For the second successive game, it was Szoboszlai opening the scoring for Liverpool but, unlike against Tottenham at the weekend, there was plenty more goalmouth action to follow.
One of Liverpool’s problems this season has been their sluggish start in games. Supporters have criticised the team for being too slow and boring, but this performance was much more vibrant. The hosts peppered the Galatasaray goal with a first-half onslaught and played some of the best football of the season.
Yet, the problem in the opening period was not so much creating chances but putting them away. How they were not further ahead at the break was a mystery as Salah missed a penalty, Mac Allister hit the crossbar and Wirtz spurned two other glorious chances.
Ugurcan Cakir saves from Mohamed Salah as Liverpool created numerous chances in the first half. (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Liverpool looked like they were going to put the tie to bed there and then. That it was only 1-0 on the night at half-time left some supporters nervous at the break, but Liverpool stepped up in the second half and got the job done with Salah making up for his previous miss with a lovely assist for Ektike shortly after the restart and a brilliant strike from distance as he cut in from the right.
Gregg Evans
Why split strikers were key to Liverpool’s attack
Liverpool knew that they needed to be on the front foot from the first whistle.
To overload Galatasaray’s defensive line, they needed width across their attack and plenty of rotations to pull opposition players out of position. They provided both.
Not for the first time this season, Slot elected to go with split strikers in attack, with Salah playing more narrowly than usual on the right flank, which allowed right-back Jeremie Frimpong to push forward and play in a familiar attacking role on the last line.
Ekitike drifted to the left side as he naturally does, with Wirtz behind the pair while floating between wide areas and central positions. Mac Allister and Szoboszlai would take turns to push forward themselves from midfield, with Galatasaray unable to track which players they needed to mark at any one point.
Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring Liverpool’s fourth against Galatasaray. (Paul Ellis / AFP via Getty Images)
There was a productive fluidity to Liverpool’s play, with the only negative in the first half being that they did not score more sooner. Profligate finishing in the opening 45 minutes was contrasted with two quick-fire finishes in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, with the scoreline eventually matching the dominance that Liverpool held.
Salah and Ekitike being so close to one another in attack was at the root of such a productive evening for Slot’s side.
Mark Carey
Did the absence of away supporters help Liverpool?
This was a special night, made even better by a packed-out Anfield and the obvious absence of away supporters.
It’s on nights like these the crowd can really make a difference, and that’s exactly what over 60,000 Liverpool fans did with their regular chanting and relentless support.
There were no Galatasaray supporters in the away end after the Turkish club was hit by a UEFA sanction, though they did have a small section of VIP supporters housed in a section high up the Kenny Dalglish Stand but they could hardly be seen, let alone heard.
Liverpool fans had plenty of reasons to cheer at Anfield (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Re-establishing a deep connection between Liverpool’s players and supporters is now crucial after a stop-start season has resulted in some spectators leaving early and others booing at full-time in previous weeks.
Champions League nights are often different and no doubt the performance on the pitch helped. By 70 minutes, Liverpool were 4-0 up and had recorded 25 shots at goal and 15 on target. On top of that, they hit the woodwork twice and missed a penalty. Perhaps it helped that Slot was so animated on the sidelines, too, as his energy also transferred into the stands. Ekitike, Konate and Frimpong all raised their hands at various moments in a plea for more encouragement from those inside.
The quarter-final against PSG will be a completely different contest — and away supporters will be inside — but if Anfield is as loud and supportive as it was tonight, the French side will have their work cut out again on Merseyside.
Gregg Evans
The next test will be significantly harder
Last season’s Champions League clash with PSG has repeatedly been a reference point for Slot.
It was a tie in which Liverpool were utterly dominated at the Parc de Princes despite nicking a 1-0 away victory, while an improved home leg saw them lose 1-0 before narrowly losing the tie on penalties. Slot now has the opportunity to exorcise the ghosts of last season as Liverpool meet the current holders in the quarter-final.
Just as they did 12 months ago, Luis Enrique’s side have clicked into gear at a crucial part of the season after a slower start to the campaign. An 8-2 aggregate victory over Chelsea shows just how dominant they were in brushing aside an English team in the last 16, and Liverpool will need to be at their very best to stand a chance of progression to the final four of Europe’s top competition.
The speed of PSG’s attack is utterly frightening, with a single defensive mistake likely to be punished by Dembele, Barcola, Kvaratskhelia and friends in the blink of an eye.
Perhaps another case of a team going toe-to-toe with Liverpool might suit them more than the low blocks they have struggled against, but there is no doubt that Slot’s next test will be significantly harder than the one posed by Galatasaray.
Mark Carey
What did Slot say?
Arne Slot said it was the “perfect dynamic” between the players and the fans at Anfield and praised Salah for his second-half performance after his penalty miss before the break.
“From start to finish we played the game I was hoping for, the players were hoping for and the fans were hoping for. Almost the perfect dynamic between players and fans,” he said.
“It says a lot about Mo that after you miss a penalty just before half-time, that can sometimes be hard for an individual or for a team, so compliments for how we came out in the second half.
“We have had a lot of setbacks this season. But Mo and the team came out so well in the second half. A great assist for Hugo and he then scored a trademark goal that he has scored so many times in this stadium and for this club, cutting inside, finding the corner. That tells you a lot about his mental strength but, definitely, also of the team, because adversity is something we can definitely talk about this season.
“Injury-wise, Mo came off not because he had scored enough but because he felt something so let’s see where he is for the weekend.”
Who made the quarter-finals and when are the games?
April 7/8
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich
Sporting v Arsenal
Atletico Madrid v Barcelona
PSG v Liverpool
April 14/15
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
Arsenal v Sporting
Liverpool v PSG
Barcelona v Atletico Madrid
What next for Liverpool?
Saturday, March 21: Brighton (Away), Premier League, 12.30pm UK, 8.30am ET
