Liverpool defeated Qarabag 6-0 at Anfield to advance to the final 16 of the Champions League.
Arne Slott’s aspect simply secured computerized qualification by ending third within the league, however a powerful strike from Qarabag meant they’d advance to the knockout stage, the place they’d face both Paris Saint-Germain or Newcastle United.
Liverpool took the lead shortly after 12 minutes when Hugo Ekitike fired an early warning shot simply huge of the underside left nook.
Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring within the fifteenth minute with Virgil van Dijk’s flick-on from Dominik Szoboszlai’s deflected nook, and 6 minutes later Ekitike slotted house from Florian Wirths into the underside left nook.
Liverpool’s dominance continued into the second interval, with Szoboszlai taking a free kick on the sting of the world within the fiftieth minute, which Mohamed Salah curled into the highest left nook of the aim.
Ekitike lastly entered the sport seven minutes later, benefiting from a mistake by Bahlul Mustafazada from a cross from Van Dijk, slotting previous Kevin Medina and previous Mateusz Koharski to attain.
A fortuitous deflection allowed Mac Allister one other easy end simply after the hour mark, however Federico Chiesa’s well-placed strike capped off a memorable efficiency within the ninetieth minute following Van Dijk’s onslaught.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 28, 2026
Information report: Van Dijk unleashes his creativity
Whereas his position in Ekitike’s end and Mac Allister’s opener might not have been supposed, Van Dijk grew to become the primary central defender to help three objectives in a single Champions League sport.
Szoboszlai additionally grew to become the second Liverpool participant to attain or help in six consecutive Champions League appearances (4 objectives, three assists), after Salah achieved the feat between September 2022 and February 2023.
The dominant efficiency noticed Slott take cost of his 91st sport in all competitions as Liverpool supervisor, having fun with his greatest margin of victory. It was additionally the Reds’ highest whole since March 2023, once they defeated Manchester United 7-0 within the Premier League.
In distinction, Qarabag suffered probably the most defeats ever in a serious European competitors, shedding 6-0 to Chelsea on this competitors in September 2017.
And there was no argument for the guests as Liverpool amassed a large 5.6 anticipated objectives towards Qarabag’s measly 0.22.
