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liverpool head coach Arne Slaughter After a 3-0 victory over their opponents, the importance of ensuring the Champions League quarterfinals was emphasized. Marseille Make this more possible.
It was only the second time this season that Slaughter’s side had beaten a top-flight side by three goals – frankfurt The other came in October – Dominik Szoboszlai’s free kick, Geronimo Rulli’s own goal and Cody Gakpo’s late goal.
The victory moved Liverpool into fourth, two points ahead of ninth-placed Barcelona, with Qarabag returning home next week as they try to avoid the play-offs and go straight into the last 16.
“It’s very important because we’ve had to play with the same players for most of the season because of injuries,” Slott said after his side extended their unbeaten run to 13 games, currently the best in Europe’s top five leagues.
“That’s probably why we ran out of energy after conceding goals in some games.
“I don’t think Virgil (Van Dijk) will have more than three days off, and the same goes for Ryan (Glaven Birch) and others, but no matter how many setbacks we have this season, they will keep coming.
“Playing against Marseille is always very difficult because of their passionate fans and the quality of their players, but even more difficult is the quality of their manager.
“We were ready for it. We took the ball away from them three or four times in the first half and couldn’t find a free man, except once, when he (Hugo Ekitic) was a little bit offside.”
“In terms of possession we were controlled but the difference this time is that after we had a big chance to hit the post they also had a big chance and saved the ball: usually this season.
“But we were able to make it 2-0, 3-0, which put the game in a completely different perspective.
“Against Burnley (1-1 draw on Saturday) we created three or four times more chances than tonight but tonight we scored three goals.”
The match also marked Mohamed Salah’s return to action at the Africa Cup of Nations, a month after he made explosive comments that he had been “thrown under the bus” due to a drop in results.
“It speaks volumes about what a great professional he is that he can be away from another team for over a month and be able to play 90 games for us after one day of training,” Slaughter added.
“He was so close to scoring, which is usually his goal, but it didn’t hurt us because we scored three goals.”
Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi was not satisfied with his team’s performance.
“We played badly and conceded a stupid goal before half-time,” he said.
“We often lost possession in the midfield because we misread the play and misjudged their press. We had a few chances but we didn’t handle them well. There were still too many ups and downs in our game.”