Liverpool beat Leipzig, enter Champions League quarter-finals: Records broken
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane helped Liverpool beat Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday. With a 2-0 second-leg victory, which makes 4-0 on aggregate, Liverpool have advanced to the quarter-finals. The Reds, who are struggling in the Premier League with six straight home defeats, are now eyeing a Champions League title. Here are the records broken in the match.
How did the match pan out?
Liverpool had several chances to break through in the first half, but they lacked sharpness. Goal-keeper Alisson Becker did well to save a shot from Dani Olmo early on. After a goal-less first half, Liverpool finally broke the deadlock in the 70th minute, with Salah providing them the opener. Four minutes later, Mane made it 2-0, which turned out to be the final score-line.
Records scripted by Liverpool
In all European competitions under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool have now progressed from 12 of their 13 two-legged knockout ties (including qualifiers). They have only failed to do so in last season's last 16 against Atletico de Madrid. Interestingly, Liverpool have never been eliminated from a European Cup/UEFA Champions League knockout tie after winning away from home in the first leg.
Mane, Salah attain these feats
Sadio Mane has netted 12 knockout-stage goals in the UEFA Champions League since his debut in the competition. As per Opta, only Cristiano Ronaldo (13) has scored more such goals since Mane's debut season in the competition (2017-18) than him. Also, Mohamed Salah has now scored more goals than any other Premier League player in all competitions this season (25).
Klopp heaps praise on Mane and Salah
Speaking after the win, Klopp said, "The two centre-halves played an incredible game. The whole last line played an incredible game because that is a tough task against Leipzig with the runs they make from everywhere." "We had to press them, force them to play those slightly uncontrolled balls forward. We defended deep together really well which is important."
