Liverpool put their Premier League problems behind them and easily made it to the Champions League quarter-finals by beating Galatasaray 4-0 at Anfield yesterday.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Hugo Ekitike, Ryan Gravenberch, and Mohamed Salah all scored to make up for a 1-0 loss in the first leg. This set up a rematch with defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight, according to AFP.
After being booed off the field at Anfield on Sunday for the latest in a string of poor performances in a 1-1 draw against struggling Tottenham, Slot demanded a response from the English champions.
Liverpool is in fifth place in the Premier League, but the Champions League might save their season and Slot’s career.
The Dutchman had rested some of his best players over the weekend, and they played so well that the score could have been much higher.
Galatasaray’s chances of pulling off an upset took a huge hit in the first few minutes when star scorer Victor Osimhen hurt his forearm in a fight with Ibrahima Konate.
The Nigerian international was plainly hurt, but he kept going until halftime, when Leroy Sane took his place.
At that point, the Turkish champs’ lead was gone.
Szoboszlai has been Liverpool’s best player this season, which has been a tough one for them. He tied the game with a well-placed shot from a corner kick in the 25th minute.
Before the interval, Galatasaray somehow avoided more punishment.
Salah squandered a great chance to double the Reds’ advantage right away when he couldn’t chip Ugurcan Cakır.
Florian Wirtz’s shot went barely over, and Cakır stopped another great shot from Szoboszlai.
After Szoboszlai was knocked down in the box, the Turkey goalie saved Salah’s bad penalty.
But in the second half, the visitors were able to score.
Salah made up for missing the penalty by giving Ekitike a wonderful ball to score.
Gravenberch scored on the rebound two minutes later after Salah’s first attempt was saved.
This season, Salah has been a ghost of his former self, both before and after a public fight with Slot after he was dropped in December.
He could and should have scored a lot more that night, but he did score his 50th Champions League goal in style with a great shot following Wirtz’s backheel.
Salah also struck the bar before begging to be taken off because he was worried about being hurt. Galatasaray didn’t put up much of a fight against Liverpool’s constant attacks.
The Reds have a very different problem to deal with when they play PSG, who beat Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate to get to the final eight.
Slot has said several times how great the French champions are.
Liverpool came the closest to stopping PSG last season, but Luis Enrique’s team won on penalties in the last 16 after a great fight.
About the Author
