Liverpool returned to Champions League action last night with a strong 2-0 victory over RB Leipzig in their second leg tie of the Round of 16, winning 4-0 on aggregate.
The game started well for the Reds overall, with Jurgen Klopp’s side relishing the fact of Fabinho returning to the midfield and his presence was felt almost instantaneously with his ability to intercept and break up play in the middle of the park.
Our front three of Sadio Mané, Diogo Jota, and Mohamed Salah had plenty of chances in front of goal throughout the first 45 minutes but failed to convert overall – I’m not sure as to why they were failing to hit the back of the net given the incentive and return of Jota to the starting XI who has been impressive during the start of his career on Merseyside.
The main reason likely may have been due to not having played together for a while which could have had an impact on the fluidity of the way they play together but it wasn’t so much having trouble creating chances, it was finishing them.
Leipzig did have their chances here and there but nothing to massively cause worry or threat to the Liverpool backline which was surprising given our recent form – you would have expected the German club to take advantage of that but it didn’t seem to materialise.
The second half continued in a similar manner with Liverpool managing some great opportunities through Salah, Jota, and Mané again but the three failing to get off the mark, with Leipzig still struggling to make much.
Who was your MOTM vs RB Leipzig?
Mo Salah
Nat Phillips
Thiago
Sadio Mané
Substitutions such as Hwang Hee-Chan and Justin Kluivert injected some pace into the Leipzig attack which allowed them to change up their style a bit more with some long balls over the top to try and take advantage of that lack of pace in Liverpool’s central defence.
Suddenly out of nowhere, when all seemed as though the game would end in a goalless draw with just 20 minutes to go, a smart counter from the Reds saw Mané put Jota through on goal when the Portuguese forward played a quick ball to his right to put Salah in with the Egyptian skipping past two Leipzig defenders to slot the ball past Peter Gulacsi.
It was a long time coming after Liverpool peppering the Leipzig goal, they finally got their goal, and rightly so.
Just three minutes later the Reds doubled their lead with a great cross from substitute Divock Origi who found Mané in the box to tap home a thunderous volley leaving Gulacsi with no chance.
It proved a strong performance overall for the Reds which was hugely needed after their poor fortunes in the Premier League as of late, and the win sees them progress to the quarter-finals of the European competition.
What do you think Liverpool fans, were you happy with the win? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below…