{"id":262768,"date":"2026-01-29T00:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T00:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/262768\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T00:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T00:52:10","slug":"mohamed-salah-back-among-goals-as-liverpool-roar-past-qarabag-into-last-16-champions-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/262768\/","title":{"rendered":"Mohamed Salah back among goals as Liverpool roar past Qarabag into last 16 | Champions League"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liverpool are having to stomach \u201ca very bad cocktail\u201d in the Premier League of wasted chances and cheap goals conceded, according to Arne Slot. To extend the mixologist\u2019s analogy, his team are enjoying life with a few margaritas in the Champions League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Slot\u2019s side cruised into the last 16 for the second successive season with a demolition of Qarabag at Anfield. Mohamed Salah was among the goalscorers for the first time since accusing Liverpool<\/a> of throwing him under the bus, while Alexis Mac Allister, Florian Wirtz, the potent Hugo Ekitik\u00e9 and substitute Federico Chiesa were also on the scoresheet.<\/p>\n

The biggest victory of his Liverpool reign plus a clean sheet were the perfect tonic for Slot following defeat at Bournemouth. Avoiding next month\u2019s two-legged playoff is an added bonus given his mounting injury problems. Six wins out of eight in the Champions League group, including against both Madrid clubs and Inter, serve as a reminder of the pedigree that Liverpool possess but have failed to show consistently in their troubled title defence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re happy to be going straight into the last 16, especially as only two years ago we were playing in the Europa League and went out in the quarter-finals to Atalanta,\u201d said Slot, whose team will play either Juventus, Atl\u00e9tico Madrid, Galatasaray or Club Brugge in the last 16. \u201cNow we are two seasons running in the top eight of the Champions League and we are hungry for more this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slot\u2019s night did not get off to the best start. Already shorn of defensive options and needing Ryan Gravenberch to deputise for Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 in central defence, Liverpool lost Jeremie Frimpong to injury in the second minute. The full-back pulled up while pursuing a Qarabag<\/a> clearance down his right flank. Credit to the visiting captain, Abdellah Zoubir, for putting the ball out of play immediately for the full-back to receive treatment. Frimpong has previously sustained two hamstring injuries during his debut season at Anfield and was distraught when limping off. Slot could only confirm this was a muscle injury.<\/p>\n

Alexis Mac Allister scores his second goal of the evening. Photograph: Phil Noble\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The thought went to Slot\u2019s pre-match press conference, when he defended withdrawing Frimpong against Bournemouth on the basis the Netherlands international was tired and his workload needed managing carefully. \u201cIf people knew the struggles we and I are facing, they would be more understanding of the decisions I make,\u201d the head coach had said.<\/p>\n

Frimpong\u2019s exit and Wataru Endo\u2019s arrival left Liverpool with a back four comprising two defenders and two midfielders. Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson and Milos Kerkez were the only fit, recognised defenders available to Slot although he is hopeful Konat\u00e9 will return from compassionate leave against Newcastle on Saturday. Joe Gomez could also be back from a hip problem.<\/p>\n

Quick GuideChampions League: draw dates and playoff pathsShow\"\"<\/p>\n

Playoff round<\/p>\n

The teams ranked 9th-24th will contest the playoff round, with Friday’s draw determining which team from each pair below will go into which path. There are no national exclusions so, for example, Monaco will be drawn against either PSG or Newcastle, with Qarabag playing the other team.<\/p>\n

Silver path:<\/p>\n

(21) Monaco or Qarabag (22) v (11) PSG or Newcastle (12)<\/p>\n

(19) Club Brugge or Galatasaray (20) v (13) Juventus or Atl\u00e9tico (14)<\/p>\n

(23) Bod\u00f8\/Glimt or Benfica (24) v (9) Real Madrid or Inter (10)<\/p>\n

(17) Dortmund or Olympiakos (18) v (15) Atalanta or Leverkusen (16)<\/p>\n

Blue path:<\/p>\n

(22) Qarabag or Monaco (21) v (12) Newcastle or PSG (11)<\/p>\n

(20) Galatasaray or Club Brugge (19) v (14) Atl\u00e9tico or Juventus (13)<\/p>\n

(24) Benfica or Bod\u00f8\/Glimt (23) v (10) Inter or Real Madrid (9)<\/p>\n

(18) Olympiakos or Dortmund (17) v (16) Leverkusen or Atalanta (15)<\/p>\n

Potential last 16 ties<\/p>\n

After the playoffs are completed on 24-25 Feb, the last 16 draw will take place on 27 Feb. It will work in a similar way, with each playoff winner paired with a team who qualified automatically by finishing in the top eight. The path to the final in Budapest on 30 May will then be set.<\/p>\n

Silver path:<\/p>\n

Monaco\/Qarabag\/PSG\/Newcastle v (5) Barcelona or Chelsea (6)<\/p>\n

Brugge\/Gala\/Juve\/Atl\u00e9tico v (3) Liverpool or Tottenham (4)<\/p>\n

Bod\u00f8\/Benfica\/Madrid\/Inter v (7) Sporting or Manchester City (8)<\/p>\n

Dortmund\/Olympiakos\/Atalanta\/Leverkusen v (1) Arsenal or Bayern (2)<\/p>\n

Blue path:<\/p>\n

Qarabag\/Monaco\/Newcastle\/PSG v (6) Chelsea or Barcelona (5)<\/p>\n

Gala\/Brugge\/Juve\/Atl\u00e9tico v (4) Tottenham or Liverpool (3)<\/p>\n

Benfica\/Bod\u00f8\/Madrid\/Inter v (8) Manchester City or Sporting (7)<\/p>\n

Olympiakos\/Dortmund\/Leverkusen\/Atalanta v (2) Bayern or Arsenal (1)<\/p>\n

Photograph: Mohammed Badra\/EPA<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n

Liverpool ensured the disruption had no immediate impact with two goals in quick succession against willing but limited opponents who, thanks to results elsewhere, qualified for the playoffs. Slot\u2019s team took the lead from a set piece, much to his delight. Dominik Szoboszlai\u2019s corner flicked off the defender Kevin Medina and was met at the back post by Van\u00a0Dijk. His header bounced up for Mac Allister to nod over the line before Mateusz Kochalski could claw\u00a0clear.<\/p>\n

It was soon two when Ekitik\u00e9 held up Robertson\u2019s ball and spun away from two Qarabag players before squaring inside to Wirtz. A chasm opened up in the middle of the visitors\u2019 defence, giving the Germany international time and space to pick his spot in the bottom corner.<\/p>\n

There was no let-up for Qarabag after the interval. In a role reversal of their free-kick routine at Bournemouth, Szoboszlai back-heeled the ball for Salah to sweep a similarly emphatic finish into the top corner. It was the Egypt international\u2019s 49th goal in the Champions League, his first in any competition for Liverpool since 1 November and, notably, his first since that interview at Leeds. Salah pointedly marked the moment by facing the Kop and thumping the Liver bird on his chest.<\/p>\n

Ekitik\u00e9 got the goal his performance deserved when beating one Qarabag central defender after the other to a long clearance out of the Liverpool penalty area. Having sprinted away from both Bahlul Mustafazade and Medina, the striker swept a clinical finish past their goalkeeper.<\/p>\n

The visitors\u2019 display was by now disintegrating and Mac Allister claimed his second goal of the night when Matheus Silva sliced a Szoboszlai pass into the path of the Argentina midfielder. Mac\u00a0Allister duly waltzed around Kochalski and tapped into an empty net. Chiesa completed the rout when Van Dijk surged out of defence and found the Italian striker in space inside the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we improve in both boxes it is going to be very hard for any team to play against us,\u201d Slot said. \u201cBut one game is not enough. We have to do it more often.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool are having to stomach \u201ca very bad cocktail\u201d in the Premier League of wasted chances and cheap…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-262768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}