If it wasn’t finished as a contest after the first leg, it took less than 15 minutes for Liverpool to make sure of their path to the Europa League quarter-finals against Sparta Prague in the second.
Goals from Darwin Nunez, Bobby Clark, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo — amidst some terrible defending from the Czechs — put the tie beyond doubt at Anfield before Dominik Szoboszlai and a second from Gakpo completed Liverpool’s scoring.
Veljko Birmancevic’s strike for the visitors, just before half-time, could barely be described as a consolation in an 11-2 aggregate win.
Liverpool, still on course for the quadruple, will find out their opponents tomorrow in the quarter-final draw.
Liverpool’s quick start – too quick for TV
After Gakpo scored to put the home side 4-0 up after 14 minutes, Sparta’s players convened near the centre circle for a team talk to try to figure out what to do. Their shocked faces told the story — they did not know what had hit them.
Pep Guardiola described Anfield as a tsunami after Manchester City’s 1-1 draw last Sunday. The Czech side must have felt they were in something even worse as a pack of red bees swarmed all over them and didn’t stop, capitalising on some dreadful defensive errors.
Nunez finished a low Szoboszlai cross neatly to open the scoring after seven minutes before Liverpool’s intense pressing proved too much for the away side.
Straight from kick-off, Salah intercepted Ladislav Krejci’s ill-advised pass on the edge of his own area. The ball fell to Clark who finished calmly, scoring his first senior goal for the club. It was too quick for TV viewers, who missed the goal live due to replays of the opener still being shown.
✊🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/Csz25KvcGA
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 14, 2024
Two minutes later, Clark dispossessed the dawdling Jaroslav Zeleny. Salah pounced on the loose ball and fired past Peter Vindahl. Salah then turned provider again, winning back possession inside the Sparta half and finding Gakpo with a low cross four minutes later.
Their opening barrage saw them become only the second team in major UEFA competition history to score four goals in the first 14 minutes of a match, after Chelsea v Jeunesse Hautcharage in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1971-72.
Sparta were powerless to stop the Liverpool onslaught. Klopp’s side sensed blood and capitalised on every opportunity offered to them. When they are at their best, it is difficult for anybody to stop them.
Salah’s sensational record
Just as he did when he returned from Africa Cup of Nations duty and injury away at Brentford in mid-February, it didn’t take Salah long to be central to Liverpool’s goalscoring threat once again.
In his first start since New Year’s Day, the Egypt forward brushed aside any lingering rust from his cameos in the first leg of the tie and against Manchester City at the weekend.
He clocked up another record, too. The 31-year-old became the first player in the club’s history to score 20 or more goals in seven consecutive seasons in all competitions, beating Ian Rush’s record of six between 1981-82 and 1986-87.
He may only have just over a year remaining on his contract, but if he renews his deal, you can bet he will have Rush’s record of scoring 20 or more goals in nine seasons in total in his sights.
The brilliance of Salah is not just defined by his goals either. As well as netting his 20th goal of the season in all competitions, he recorded his 12th and 13th assists. He should have had a third assist when his cushioned layoff presented Nunez with an open goal from three yards out. Somehow, the Uruguayan guided his shot over the bar.
Liverpool’s talisman is back and firing as the quadruple charge continues.
Clark continues to impress
With his first senior goal for Liverpool, Clark became the youngest player to score in Europe since Trent Alexander-Arnold against Maribor in the 2017 Champions League group stages.
It was a calm finish from the youngster, who has seen his role continue to grow. Klopp selected a surprisingly strong starting XI, but it highlighted the growing trust he has in the 19-year-old that Clark got the nod in central midfield alongside Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo.
The academy has earned plenty of praise in recent weeks and Clark epitomises the aim of having a style of play that is at the core of every team and every age group.
4⃣ goals in 7⃣ minutes 🙌 #UEL pic.twitter.com/pfen2fm3O1
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 14, 2024
Klopp’s teams are built on counter-pressing and Clark was central to it in this game. He showed good anticipation to be in the correct position to capitalise when Salah intercepted a poor Krejci pass to score. He was then at the heart of the press that led to Liverpool’s third goal, winning possession himself to set up Salah and record his second senior assist.
Ahead of the game, when the teams were being read out, he was named as Lee Clark, his dad, instead of Bobby. He carries plenty of similarities to the former Newcastle, Sunderland and Fulham midfielder. There is composure and certainty to everything he does both on and off the ball.
The only negative was the sight of him limping off when replaced after 70 minutes. He has looked at home in Liverpool’s senior setup and should the injury not be serious, there may be more opportunities before the end of the season. With each performance, he keeps earning them.
What did Klopp say?
“I said in the team meeting I don’t expect us to lose 5-0 and get knocked out but everything is prepared for a really good game, we decide if we get through somehow and play a really good game and there were so many reasons to decide to play a really good game,
“Then the boys started the game incredibly well, we were really after them and scored wonderful goals, 4-0 up in 14 minutes is really strange. And from then on it became a strange game because how can you now stay greedy?
“Everybody knows there are other games to come. We tried at half-time changing early, Robbo (Robertson) at centre-half, Joey (Gomez) a precaution, Darwin (Nunez) a precaution, none of them was necessary to take off, but Sunday is another game. That’s the moment where we started thinking about it as well, so when we start thinking like that the boys think like that as well.”
What next for Liverpool?
Sunday, March 17: Manchester United (A), FA Cup, 3.30pm GMT, 11.30am ET
Wembley beckons for Liverpool again if they are victorious in this quarter-final. It ended goalless between these two at Anfield in the league just before Christmas and Liverpool lost 2-1 on their most recent visit to Old Trafford, but over the past six meetings, they are ahead by an aggregate score of 21-4 with four wins and that draw.
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(Top photo: Liverpool’s Bobby Clark celebrates – Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
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