London (AFP)

Liverpool harvested, Liverpool trembled, but Liverpool scored and qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League by winning 2-0 at "home" in Budapest, against Leipzig, as on the first leg.

It's a welcome breath of fresh air for Liverpool in great difficulty in the league and for whom Anfield has become synonymous with defeat in recent times, with 6 losses in a row.

Something bad is good and the change of scenery of the match at the Puskas Arena, due to the quarantine that would have been imposed on the Germans on their return, if they had come to England, certainly enabled Liverpool to avoid too much gamberger. .

We rediscovered qualities, such as pressing, sharpness in passing, determination in forward projections which were totally lost at home in the league.

And although Liverpool needed half a dozen chances before they found the loophole, Liverpool were able to turn the game in their favor with two close goals, both times in the second half and both times with Mohamed Salah. who opens the scoring and Sadio Mané who makes the hole, as on the go.

The Egyptian, who was also at the start of the first goal by coming to participate in the conservation of a ball recovered in his 30 meters, took advantage of a good rise of the ball in three passes and an opening of Diogo Jota, preferred to Roberto Firmino, to transplant to the center and deceive Peter Gulacsi (1-0, 70th).

Four minutes later, it was Divock Origi, who had just replaced the Portuguese, who found Mané at the far post with a tense cross for the 2-0 (74th) which really allowed the winners of the 2019 edition to blow.

- Experience has spoken -

The Germans, semi-finalists against Paris SG last year, may regret the head on the crossbar of Alexander Sörloth, after a furious rise from Dayot Upamecano five minutes before the opening of the scoring, which would have weakened the Reds psychologically.

But on the whole of the two matches, one has the feeling that the experiment speaks.

Punished for two glaring defensive errors a fortnight ago, Leipzig had changed tactics by starting with Yussuf Poulsen in the lead, when they had started without a real nine in the first round.

The Germans had the ball a lot in this match, but apart from the head of the Norwegian giant and an opportunity from Dani Olmo in the 10th minute of play, they rarely endangered their opponents, while Jota (19th, 41st ), as well as Salah and Mané in quick succession (24th) had already had clear opportunities in the first period.

By erasing the disillusionment of the elimination at this same stadium, against Atlético Madrid last year, just before the Covid stopped European football for three months, Liverpool may have exorcised part of what weighed on on him.

The Champions League becomes in any case a major goal of the Reds, even if the opposition promises to go up a notch from the quarters.

© 2021 AFP