Liverpool defeated its Czech guest, Sparta Prague, yesterday evening, in the second leg of the round of 16 in the European League, to qualify for the quarter-finals with an overall score of 11-2, while Bayer Leverkusen clinched the ticket to the quarter-finals with a thrilling victory over Karabakh.
And at Anfield, with the participation of… Egyptian Mohamed Salah Starting for the first time since January 1 after an injury he suffered in the African Cup of Nations, Liverpool showed off again at the expense of its guest Sparta Prague, who lost the first leg at home 1-5, sweeping them 6-1.
Coach Jurgen Klopp’s team led 4-0 just 14 minutes after the start of the match, with goals from Darwin Nunez, Bobby Clarke, Mohamed Salah and Cody Jacobo. Serbian striker Veljko Permansvec reduced the deficit before the break, but Liverpool’s dominance continued in the second half. Midfielder Dominik Soboslai scored the fifth goal in the 48th minute, before Jakpo scored his second goal of the match.
In an exciting match, he won Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 over its guest, Karabakh, coming from Azerbaijan, thanks to two goals scored by Patrik Schick in stoppage time, leading his team to a 5-4 win on aggregate, and Leverkusen’s unbeaten streak continues for the 37th match in a row.
Italian clubs
Brighton & Hove Albion were unable to compensate for their 4-0 loss in the first leg against Roma, and were content with an honorable 1-0 victory over their Italian guest, with a goal by Danny Welbeck, so that the Italian team qualified, and another Italian team also made its way to the quarter-finals, namely Atalanta, which won with difficulty 2- 1 over Sporting of Portugal to advance to the next round with an aggregate score of 3-2.
Milan qualified for the quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory away from home over ten players from Slavia Prague, where the home team’s hopes of compensating for its 4-2 first-leg loss were dashed in the 20th minute, when captain Thomas Holich received a red card after interfering with Milan’s David Calabria.
Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Rafael Leao scored in the first half, as Milan, the seven-time European champion, dominated the confrontation. Milan coach Stefano Pioli said: “Today we controlled the match more, scored three goals, and the course of the match was very clear.”
Six minutes before the end of the match’s regular time, Matej Jurasek scored Slavia Prague’s only goal, while Milan reached the next round as the third Italian team continuing on the European League journey, compensating for the disappointment of the Italian League with the absence of its teams from the quarter-finals. In the Champions League.
West Ham victory
England’s West Ham also won 5-0 over Germany’s Freiburg, with goals from Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Cresswell, and a brace from Mohamed Quddus, in the biggest victory ever achieved by the team in a major European tournament, advancing to the quarter-finals with a total score of 5-1.
After his 250th match as coach, David Moyes praised his players at West Ham. He told the UEFA website: “We looked like we wanted to score tonight and we seemed to be the biggest threat. Obviously we had two or three exceptional players individually who helped us score goals. It was a great performance for us to win by five goals.”
Benfica clinched its place in the quarter-finals with a 1-0 victory over Scottish Rangers, with Rafa Silva’s goal in the 66th minute, and the Portuguese team won 3-2 on aggregate.
Despite Villarreal’s 3-1 victory over its guest, Olympique Marseille, with goals from Etienne Capoue, Alexandre Sorloth and Yerson Mosquera, the French team advanced to the quarter-finals with an aggregate score of 5-3 after Jonathan Klos scored a goal in stoppage time.