Liverpool's 2-1 victory over Lille at Anfield strengthened its grip on top of the Champions League league stage with its seventh successive victory.
Mohamed Salah's first-half goal put Arne Slott's side ahead, and although there was an upset when Jonathan David equalized shortly after Lille had reduced it to 10 after Issa Mandi's red card, Harvey Elliott's deflected shot won the game.
Barcelona's dramatic 5-4 win away to Benfica means Liverpool still need another point to be sure of top spot, but no one can now surpass their tally of 21 points after seven successive wins. This is not an easy matter considering that Lille played 21 matches without defeat.
Harvey Elliott scored the winning goal for Liverpool
Slott was able to rotate some stars, replacing Ryan Gravenbrech at half-time and introducing Trent Alexander-Arnold late on, and he can now go to PSV Eindhoven in the final knowing that a draw will be enough for the team who remain Champions League favorites.
Player of the match: Mohamed Salah
After becoming the first Liverpool player to score 50 goals in Europe, Mohamed Salah He said Amazon Prime:
“I hope I'm not the last. I wasn't focused on the record before the game. It's something I'm very happy and proud of, especially because we won the game, and that's the most important thing.
“Lille had a really good game plan, they were unbeaten in 21 games and they were a strong team. They showed that in the first half and the second half, so I'll give them credit, but I'm happy we were able to win.”
Salah talks about the similarities between Liverpool and the 2019 Champions League winners under Jurgen Klopp:
“It's different. Different coach, different players. We have four, five or six players left from this team, but we have good talent, hard-working players, and a manager with good ideas. We'll just try it.” And look.”
Liverpool player Mohamed Salah celebrates with teammates Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones
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Liverpool Head coach Arnie slot talk to Amazon Prime:
“We're happy to be in the top eight. That's the only thing that tells me something because this league table doesn't tell me that.
“Normally in tennis, if you're number one if you play 24, you know it's not as good as 16, but because we play different teams, 24 is probably better than 16.
“We want to be at the top of the league but we have to wait and see if that is an advantage or not.
“As a coach, I'm a little more impressed than I think the fans are, who probably thought Lille were the only ones. But I knew they were unbeaten in 21 games. They beat Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, and with all due respect, they did that.” So without the best players in the world.
“That tells you that they are very well organized and it is difficult to play through them. They are a hard-working team, so it was not easy. I was happy with the patience we had, we did not have to make difficult passes but we kept the ball and our complete dominance. . .
“The only thing I wasn't happy with was that a few weeks ago, one chance and one goal were conceded.”
