Liverpool and Mohamed Salah march on with ease. Arne Slot’s team secured a place in the knockout phase of the Champions League with victory over Lille, on the night Salah became the first player in Liverpool’s illustrious history to score 50 European goals. Top of the Champions League and the Premier League, the six-time champions will fear no one in the last 16.
Liverpool needed only one point from their final two group games to guarantee a place in the knockout rounds, a place that has never once looked in doubt, and took all three courtesy of Salah’s instinctive finish and Harvey Elliott’s deflected strike. Victory equalled Liverpool’s best sequence in the Champions League era of seven straight wins, first set in 2021/22. Slot’s team also created a new club record for most minutes without conceding in Europe, surpassing the 572 set by Rafael Benítez’s team in 2005-06.
Slot’s starting XI suggested he had an eye on Saturday’s game with Ipswich and managing individual workloads, particularly in defence, but Lille were not underestimated. Bruno Génésio’s side started the penultimate round of fixtures in the final automatic qualifying spot after an impressive campaign that has yielded victories over both Madrid clubs and a draw against Juventus. There was an early warning from the visitors when Gabriel Gudmundsson broke through straight from Liverpool’s kick off. The left-back shrugged aside Conor Bradley and surged into the area where he sent a powerful drive wide of Alisson’s post.
Gudmundsson’s effort, 30 seconds in, was as close as either team came to even testing a goalkeeper until Salah decorated a humdrum affair with yet another slice of Liverpool history. The two sides cancelled each other out for 34 minutes – both were polished in possession, well structured but lacking a cutting edge – and then the Egypt international took centre stage once again.
As so often, he struck in a flash. Lille were on the attack with Jonathan David when Kostas Tsimikas regained possession with a clean challenge. While David’s teammates appealed for a foul, Curtis Jones threaded a pass through a chasm in the visitors’ defence for Salah to charge down on Lucas Chevalier’s goal. A first-time shot around the Lille keeper was sufficient for Salah to become the first Liverpool player to score 50 goals in European competition. He celebrated by taking a seat on the advertising hoardings. Several Liverpool players joined the forward on his throne in recognition of a remarkable achievement.
Releasing Salah early behind the Lille defence was a regular Liverpool ploy. It should have brought a second goal moments before the interval when Luis Díaz found him with a superb diagonal ball. Salah held off the close attentions of Gudmundsson and advanced into the area but, with only Chevalier to beat, he placed a low shot wide of the far post.
Lille created several promising situations with Rémy Cabella prominent down the left. But they lacked an end product throughout the first half. When Hákon Arnar Haraldsson was released inside the 18-yard box by Mitchel Bakker’s fine pass Jones sprinted back to take the ball off his toes. The midfielder’s defensive work was particularly impressive given he had just received treatment for a second time on a suspected knee injury. Jones did not reappear for the second half while Ryan Gravenberch, who had played every minute of the Champions League campaign, was also withdrawn. Alexis Mac Allister and Elliott replaced the midfield duo.
Elliott’s creativity was immediately on show. The midfielder created a chance for Bradley, an awkward one admittedly, who shot over from a tight angle. He then played Darwin Núñez through on goal with another measured pass but Chevalier was off his line quickly to block the striker’s attempted chip. Tsimikas free-kicks were another dangerous weapon for Liverpool, but both Jarell Quansah and Mac Allister headed over when found unmarked inside the Lille area. Tsimikas’s body language made it clear that both should have hit the target.
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Liverpool’s task appeared more comfortable when Aïssa Mandi was sent off on the hour for a second bookable offence. The Lille right-back received his first yellow card for dissent, when protesting too long over the referee’s correct refusal to penalise Tsimikas for the challenge on David that led to Liverpool’s opener. His second arrived for a blatant foul on Díaz. But, just two minutes later, Lille were level. Cabella released Gudmundsson to the byline and his low cross from the left found Haraldsson unmarked 12 yards from goal. The midfielder’s shot struck Tsimikas and fell invitingly for David, who gave Alisson no chance from close range.
It was the first goal Liverpool had conceded at home in the Champions League this season. It did not ruin their 100% record in the competition, however. Lille were level for all of five minutes. When a Tsimikas corner was headed clear to Elliott the substitute swept a first-time shot towards goal from 22 yards. His effort took a big deflection off the unfortunate Ngal’ayel Mukau and sailed into the bottom corner of Chevalier’s net.
