Liverpool continued their excellent form in Europe with a win over Liepzig.
After topping Group D of the UEFA Champions League, Liverpool now has a 2-0 advantage in their two-legged tie against Leipzig in the Round of 16.
Last night’s first leg was played at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, which was used as a neutral venue. This was owing to the German government’s travel restrictions.
Liverpool player ratings vs Leipzig
Given our recent form and injury concerns, the Reds performed beyond expectations from fans. Incredible pressing, clinical finishing, and resolute in defence constituted the perfect European night for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
"The German manager expressed his delight with the performance in a post-match interview with BT Sport. He said: “A lot of people probably expected us to slip again because of the situation, and the boys didn’t, and I’m really happy about that.”"
Jurgen made only one change going into the game, with Thiago returning to the side, and the injured James Milner dropping out. This meant that Jordan Henderson continued in central defence alongside Ozan Kabak, who was the first Turkish player to represent an English club in UCL.
Both of the goals scored by Liverpool came from the wingers on either side, who capitalised on mistakes from Leipzig. Mo Salah scored first in the 53rd minute, and Sadio Mane scored just five minutes after.
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Salah made the most of a poor back-pass from Marcel Sabitzer, which left his goalkeeper, Peter Gulacsi, exposed. Mo scored at the former Red’s near post, who could do nothing in the 1v1 situation against one of the world’s best.
Sadio’s goal was fairly similar to Mo’s. He was played through on goal owing to Nordi Mukiele’s failure to get rid of a fairly straight-forward lobbed ball from Curtis Jones. The Senegalese international finished with similar composure to Mo as well.
Despite the goals coming from unforced errors, Liverpool thoroughly deserved the fortune of luck they got last night. The side will hope to perform even better against Everton on Saturday. But first…
Here are the Liverpool player ratings:
Goalkeeper: Alisson – 7.5
Finally, a clean-sheet for Alisson, Liverpool’s first in seven games. After mistakes in games against Manchester City and Leicester City, Alisson was close to his best last night.
He made a couple of massive saves for us, with the one against Nkunku springing to mind immediately. Ali did look a bit unconvincing with his distribution at times though, clearing the ball in situations where it wasn’t necessary.