Direct Narration and statistics
Faced with their depressing reality in the Premier, in which they have lost five of the last six games, Liverpool have found a refuge in the Champions League in which to remember who they were not so long ago and who they aspire to be again.
The set of
Jürgen Klopp
will be among the top eight of the competition after dispatch a Leipzig who has played with more enthusiasm than packaging in this tie.
The 0-2 of the first leg already showed Liverpool the catwalk towards the quarterfinals and this Wednesday in the return leg they worked hard to leave no loopholes for the comeback.
Always with the situation under control, in the second half he ended up imposing thanks to the goals scored by Salah and Mané (2-0).
That Liverpool is a team lacking in confidence that nothing goes to the right was confirmed once again in the first part of the duel.
Leipzig jumped to the Puskas Arena in
Budapest
(same venue as in the first leg) with the need to come back from 2-0, but at no time did they show signs of being able to measure up to such a difficult mission.
With
Fabinho
back as midfielder, instead of plugging holes in defense, Liverpool easily short-circuited the electricity of
Nagelsmann's
box
and found opportunities to counter.
And it was in those plays in which he verified that Klopp's are in the doldrums.
After 20 minutes, Thiago launched
Salah
towards Gulacsi, without the Egyptian knowing how to solve it, as happened to Mané when he went to the rebound.
Something similar happened just before the break, this time with Salah and
Diogo Jota
as the protagonists.
And the Portuguese still enjoyed two other good occasions, but in both Gulacsi interposed, without excessive difficulty, between the ball and the goal.
Liverpool had to wait until minute 70 to score the goal that would bring him absolute tranquility.
Klopp's lifelong play, triangulating from behind to set up a counterattack in which Jota gave the last touch before Salah, with a lot of mettle, sent the ball gently to the bottom of the goal.
Solorth's
fright
, who five minutes earlier had sent a header to the crossbar, was definitely nothing.
Mané's sentence
From then on, everything was very simple for Liverpool.
Klopp took the opportunity to make changes and the result was immediate.
Jota was replaced by Origi and the Belgian striker served
Mané with
a low center to score the second goal of the night.
It happened just four minutes after the opening goal, thus condemning Leipzig to have to score four goals in 15 minutes to overcome the crossing.
A mission more than impossible.
Vital in the spirit, the pass to the quarterfinals after last year's absence (after being eliminated at the hands of Atlético), is also capital in Liverpool's objectives this season.
Because beyond the incentive that winning the Champions League itself supposes, lifting the title would also guarantee its presence in the next edition.
In Premier, the 'red' team is now eighth to seven points behind Chelsea, which occupies fourth place.
Never like this year was it so important for a team to win the European Cup.
It won't be easy for him, but at least he's still alive.
Which was what it was all about.
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