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There may not be too many ways in which this season is better than last for Liverpool but Arne Slot can at least point to a significant one. Liverpool have gone further in the Champions League, and this was progress in more ways than one.
A quarter-final was booked in emphatic and entertaining fashion. The boos that greeted the final whistle against Tottenham on Sunday were replaced by cheers, the lethargy with which Liverpool have played too often giving way to an energy and intensity. This was frenzied and fast, players and crowd feeding off each other. For Slot, it was a response when the scrutiny upon him had heightened. The Dutchman switched tactics, to something of a 4-4-2, and the team changed tack. This was much better. This was one of his finest Anfield nights of the campaign.
If it was like the Liverpool of old, what could have shaped up as further evidence of Mohamed Salah’s decline instead became a cathartic evening for him. His was a throwback performance. At half-time, when Liverpool’s dominance was not reflected by a one-goal lead, there was the possibility Salah’s missed penalty would cost them. This threatened to be his last European game for Liverpool until he had a part in three goals in 11 minutes, capped by a trademark strike.
Galatasaray were overwhelmed, Liverpool’s defeat in Istanbul last week rendered irrelevant. The catalyst for the turnaround, perhaps inevitably, was Dominik Szoboszlai, who added to his collection of terrific goals and who, as he often does, broke the deadlock.
If Galatasaray had a gameplan for holding on to their first-leg lead beyond time-wasting, it was not visible. They had nevertheless held out for a quarter of the game in which, strangely, the employees of the Turkish champions who covered the most ground seemed to be the two middle-aged men who trotted on for each of the many stoppages; some, it seemed, were not necessary.
Even before then, however, Liverpool had done something they have managed too rarely this season and started at pace. They got their reward.
Liverpool had conceded to Galatasaray’s set-pieces twice in Istanbul this season. They scored from one on Merseyside. It was beautifully worked, Alexis Mac Allister disguising a low corner and Szoboszlai delivering a first-time, left-footed finish from 15 yards. The routine was so expertly planned in that it ended up with the man who had the technique to provide the finish. It was, remarkably, Szoboszlai’s fifth Champions League goal of the season, to add to four assists. His name echoed around Anfield; the fans he had criticised for leaving early on Sunday recognise he has become a talisman.
And then Liverpool mounted a ferocious onslaught. Salah, in behind the Galatasaray defence, failed to dink the ball over Ugurcan Cakir. Florian Wirtz had a ferocious shot deflected over the goal. Mac Allister headed on to the bar from four yards. Szoboszlai had a long-range shot parried. The best chance of all went to the Egyptian. It was a wild and needless challenge from Ismail Jakobs to send Szoboszlai flying. In contrast, Salah’s penalty was too tame. Cakir saved it with his trailing foot.
If it reinforced the sense Liverpool can be a side who struggle to double a lead, they got their second, third and fourth goals in swift succession. Each revolved around Salah. First he sprang the offside trap and centred to give Hugo Ekitike a tap in. Then, after Cakir parried his half-volley, Ryan Gravenberch bobbled in the rebound. After Wilfried Singo was spared an embarrassing own goal by an offside flag, Salah scored his 50th Champions League goal in classic fashion. A curler from outside the box nestled in the net. Salah grabbed the Liver Bird on his shirt in celebration. High in the stands, Steven Gerrard joined in the applause.
Salah should really have had a second, hitting the bar from Ekitike’s cutback. It nevertheless felt a sign he was irresistible; until, suddenly, he wasn’t. He went off, seemingly substituting himself for once, and headed down the tunnel for treatment. Liverpool must hope it is nothing serious.
Galatasaray’s attacking superstar was long gone by then. Seemingly hampered by an arm injury, Victor Osimhen did not reappear for the second half. Often the scourge of Liverpool, his contribution had been negligible; but the same could be said for many of his teammates.
This was Galatasaray’s chance to reach a first Champions League quarter-final in 13 years but poor travellers shrank from the task, whereas Liverpool relished it.
And so in this season, unlike last, they will play European football in April. There is a similarity nonetheless. It is Paris Saint-Germain again, a rematch that offers the prospect of revenge. And for Salah, an opportunity to plot a course towards his fourth Champions League final.
