Zinedine Zidane was delighted with Real Madrid’s performance in their second leg against Atalanta, as they won 3-1 on the night to make it 4-1 on aggregate against the Italians. The coach was particularly pleased with the defensive effort against a team known for scoring so many goals.
He said: “I’m happy for the players, who had a good performance from start to finish against a team who demand a lot from you physically. We needed to defend well and do the same with the ball. We did that, so we can say this was a complete performance. They didn’t have many chances. They’re a team who usually create so many chances, but we didn’t see that tonight. Then we had good attacking pieces of play.”
Luka Modrić was so impressive in the game and Zidane has special praise for the Croatian in his press conference, saying: “With Casemiro, we can play in a different kind of way, but Luka and Toni Kroos are phenomenal as a double pivot. Luka may be 35 years of age, but he doesn’t look like it on the pitch.”
Finally, he had praise for Vinícius and Marco Asensio after the Brazilian won the penalty that Sergio Ramos scored for the second goal and after the Spaniard rounded out the win. On the two wingers, the coach said: “I’m happy for Vinícius because he’s the one who wins the penalty. He won it with his speed and we know he can make life difficult for defenders. [With Marco Asensio], he was able to go on and score and that’s good for him and for us.”
Real Madrid reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in three seasons with a clinical second-leg performance against Atalanta.
Leading 1-0 from the first leg, Real doubled their advantage in the tie when Luka Modric pounced on Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello’s poor clearance to square for Karim Benzema to sweep home.
Skipper Sergio Ramos added Real’s second from the penalty spot after Vinicius Junior was cynically tripped just inside the area by Rafael Toloi.
The Italian side pulled one back through Luis Muriel’s marvellous 25-yard free-kick but Marco Asensio’s near-post finish quickly silenced any thoughts of a late fightback.
“The important thing was that we got through to the last eight, which we haven’t done in the last two years,” said midfielder Modric.
“We’ve shown tonight that there’s still a lot of hunger within this team and that we want to continue to win. We’re capable of going really far.”
Madrid, who won the Champions League four times in five seasons between 2014 and 2018, had been eliminated at the last-16 stage the past two years but never looked in danger of succumbing to a similar fate this time around.
Away specialists Atalanta had won all four of their Champions League games on their travels this season and could have erased their first-leg deficit within three minutes but Robin Gosens could only divert Muriel’s pull-back straight at Thibaut Courtois from six yards.
Real settled after the let-off but they needed Sportiello’s error to break the deadlock – the keeper had been preferred to Pierluigi Gollini for this return leg but fired a poor ball straight to former Tottenham midfielder Modric, who picked out Benzema to do the rest.
Benzema and Ramos had missed the first leg through injury but Real have not been knocked out of the Champions League with their captain in the side since 2015 and he sealed their progress after Toloi illegally ended Vinicius’ run.
It was the second dazzling dribble in a matter of minutes from the Brazilian striker, who had weaved his way past three defenders into the box shortly earlier only to prod wide with just Sportiello to beat.
Benzema nodded against the post after Sportiello had denied his initial header before an Atalanta improvement that forced two smart Courtois saves from substitute Duvan Zapata was rewarded by Muriel’s superb set-piece strike.
However, Asensio soon settled any potential nerves and while greater tests will await the 13-time European champions in rounds to come, Zinedine Zidane’s side showed they possess the firepower, particularly via the in-form Benzema, to trouble any of the clubs remaining in the competition.
The France forward’s strike moved him on to 70 Champions League goals, fifth in the all-time list, and the ageless attacker has now scored in the competition for 17 consecutive years, matching a mark set by Raul and Lionel Messi.
Six of Marco Asensio’s seven Champions League goals have been scored in the knockout stages
Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane: “I’ve congratulated the boys because they played a great game from start to finish against a side who ask a lot of you physically.
“We needed to defend well and we were able to play our own game with the ball.
“The Zapata chance aside they didn’t really have a sniff. Normally they create a lot of chances but tonight they didn’t; we played well and looked good going forward.”
Los Angeles police said there was no evidence Woods had been impaired by drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash.
County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Woods survived “what would otherwise have been a fatal crash” because the interior of his vehicle had remained largely intact.
Sweden’s record goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been recalled to the national team five years after announcing his retirement.
The 39-year-old scored 62 goals in 116 internationals before quitting after the team’s Euro 2016 group-stage exit.
He opened the door to a return in a newspaper interview in November 2020 and Sweden coach Janne Andersson then flew to Milan to meet with the striker.
Ibrahimovic has 14 goals in 14 Serie A appearances for AC Milan this season.
Sweden face Georgia on Thursday, 25 March before playing Kosovo three days later in their opening two 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Ibrahimovic has responded to Sweden’s announcement of their squad by tweeting: “The return of the God.”
“He can be a little bit funny at times,” Andersson said when told about the striker’s tweet during an online news conference.
“First and foremost he is a very good footballer, the best we have had in Sweden. It’s obviously very good that he wants to come back.
“Apart from what he can contribute on the field, he has incredible experience and can contribute that to the other players in the team.”https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1371797042696163328&lang=en-gb&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2F56411997&theme=light&widgetsVersion=e1ffbdb%3A1614796141937&width=550pxReport
The 6ft 5in striker made his international debut as a 19-year-old against the Faroe Islands and scored in his first competitive match – a qualifier for the 2002 World Cup against Azerbaijan.
He was appointed captain for Euro 2012 qualifying and scored one of the best goals of the finals with a volley in a 2-0 win over France, although Sweden were eliminated at the group stage.
The former Barcelona, Paris St-German, Manchester United and LA Galaxy striker rejoined AC Milan on a six-month deal – with the option for another season – in January 2020.
Ibrahimovic scored 29 goals in 53 games for United, who agreed to an early termination of his contact, before he joined MLS side Galaxy in 2018.
Valencia forward Yunus Musah has opted against playing for England and pledged his international future to the United States.
The 18-year-old captained England from under-15 to under-18 level, and was eligible to play for Italy – where he lived until he was nine – and Ghana, his country of descent.
Instead he chose the US, where he was born while his mother was on holiday.
“It was pretty clear for me to decide to play for the US,” he said.
“First of all, I think it makes sense to represent the country I was born in. The moment I decided to play for the United States came one day when my heart told me that this was the best place for me.”
Former Arsenal academy player Musah had already made his senior US debut in November, starting in a goalless draw with Wales, but as the game was not a competitive fixture he could still have chosen to commit to a different national team.
It has been a breakthrough season for Musah, who has started 15 of his 24 La Liga appearances since making his debut last September.
He is now in contention to win his first full US caps later this month, in the friendlies against Jamaica in Austria on 25 March and Northern Ireland in Belfast three days later.
Zidane hoped that he makes a return to action as soon as possible but was puzzled to why his injuries have seemed to increase since arriving at Real.
“Something’s up, because he was never injured in his entire career [before joining Real] or there were very few injuries. We want to help him and hope he’s back as soon as possible.
“They’re things that I can’t explain. I want to be positive and hope that it’s not too much of a problem.
“We’re going to try and figure out why it’s happening but right now we can’t explain it.”
Casemiro will also miss Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Atalanta with the Brazilian suspended after picking up a booking in the first leg, however captain Sergio Ramos is fit and likely to start.
Real go into the game with a goal advantage after winning the first leg 1-0 in Italy thanks to a late Ferland Mendy strike.
Pele congratulated Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portugal forward’s hat-trick against Cagliari took him past the Brazilian legend’s tally of goals scored in official matches.
Ronaldo netted three times inside the opening 32 minutes to take his career total to 770 – three clear of Pele’s tally of 767.
“Life is a solo flight. Each makes his own journey. And what a beautiful journey you are having. I admire you a lot, I love watching you play and this is no secret to anyone. Congratulations on breaking my record of goals in official matches,” Pele posted on Instagram.
Some reports suggest this is a world record tally but that is disputed by the Czech Football Association, which claims former Austria and Czechoslovakia striker Josef Bican is football’s true all-time top scorer with 821 goals.
Meanwhile, data from Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) says Bican scored 805 career goals. But among them were 27 goals for Rapid Vienna’s reserve and amateur teams, as well as strikes which were not in official international games. Remove those and Bican finished his career on 759 goals – short of Pele and Ronaldo’s total.
‘My ever-lasting and unconditional admiration for Pele’
Ronaldo said he ‘can’t wait for the next challenges – trophies’ after surpassing Pele’s goals tally
After the game against Cagliari, Ronaldo explained on Instagram why he is only now acknowledging the “record”.
“The last few weeks were filled with news and stats considering me the world’s top scorer in football history, overcoming Pele’s 757 official goals,” he said. “Although I’m thankful for that recognition, now it’s time for me to explain why I didn’t acknowledge that record until this moment.
“My ever-lasting and unconditional admiration for mister Edson Arantes do Nascimento [Pele], such as the respect that I have for mid-20th century football, led me to take into account his 767 score, assuming his nine goals for Sao Paulo State Team, as well as his single goal for the Brazilian Military Team, as official goals. The world has changed since then and football has changed as well, but this doesn’t mean that we can just erase history according to our interests.
“Today, as I reach the 770th official goal in my professional career, my first words go straight to Pele. There’s no player in the world who hasn’t been raised listening to stories about his games, his goals and his achievements, and I’m no exception. And for that reason, I’m filled with joy and pride as I acknowledge the goal that puts me on top of the world’s goalscoring list, overcoming Pele’s record, something that I could never have dreamed of while growing up as a child from Madeira.”
Lautaro Martinez headed a late winner as Inter beat Torino 2-1 to move nine points clear at the top of Serie A.
Martinez steered substitute Alexis Sanchez’s cross into the corner with five minutes left to secure Inter’s eighth successive league victory.
Antonio Sanabria had earlier levelled for Torino after Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring from the penalty spot.
Second-placed AC Milan missed the chance to narrow the gap to six points when they lost 1-0 against Napoli.
The home side had the best chance of a scrappy first half when defender Lyanco headed Simone Verdi’s free-kick against the post.
Inter created little before they were awarded a penalty just after an hour when Armando Izzo barged into the back of Martinez, with Lukaku sending goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu the wrong way for his 23rd goal of the season.
Torino were level just seven minutes later when Antonio Sanabria forced the ball home from close range after a scramble at a corner.
That looked to be enough to earn Torino a point before Martinez beat Sirigu from eight yards for his 15th goal of the season.
Manchester United needed a Craig Dawson own goal to overcome West Ham and strengthen their grip on a Champions League place.
On loan from Watford, Dawson has been outstanding in the Hammers’ push for a top-four slot but settled the contest in the wrong way at the start of the second half as he turned Bruno Fernandes’ corner into his own net under pressure from Scott McTominay at the near post.
Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood also went close in a one-sided contest as West Ham failed to threaten until Said Benrahma’s introduction after an hour.
When the visitors finally pushed forward, Luke Shaw got in the way of Tomas Soucek’s goalbound shot as United kept a fourth successive clean sheet for the first time under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The result kept United in second but with the teams from fourth to seventh all failing to win this weekend, they now have a nine-point advantage over West Ham, who remain fifth, but do have a match in hand.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the second-fastest hat-trick of his career, beaten only by the 20-minute treble he scored for Real Madrid against Espanyol in September 2015
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick inside the opening 32 minutes as Juventus bounced back from their midweek Champions League exit by beating Cagliari 3-1.
Ronaldo, 36, opened the scoring with a header before a right-footed penalty and a drilled, left-footed finish completed a ‘perfect’ treble.
Giovanni Simeone pulled a goal back for Cagliari in the second half.
Juventus stay third but are now three points clear of fourth-placed Atalanta.
Ronaldo came in for some criticism after Juventus’ extra-time defeat against Porto on Tuesday, the second year in a row they have been knocked out at the last-16 stage. But this performance was a reminder of just how devastating the former Manchester United forward can be.
He rose unmarked to meet Juan Cuadrado’s corner to send a towering header beyond Alessio Cragno after just 10 minutes, before drawing a foul from the goalkeeper for a penalty which he converted 15 minutes later.
The third goal was vintage Ronaldo, collecting Federico Chiesa’s pass just inside the area, shimmying away from a defender and powering the ball into the top corner.
Cagliari, who are just two points clear of the relegation zone, improved in the second half and got on the scoresheet when Simeone slid home Gabriele Zappa’s cross from the right.
Ronaldo could have scored his fourth goal with virtually the last kick of the game, but Cragno did well to rush out and block.
Elsewhere, Lautaro Martinez scored a late winner as Inter beat Torino 2-1 to move nine points clear at the top, while second-placed AC Milan were beaten 1-0 at home to Napoli
Arsenal came from behind to secure a fully deserved north London derby win and inflict damage on Tottenham’s hopes of a place in the Premier League’s top four.
The Gunners were vastly superior until a Spurs rally in the closing stages but fell behind to a piece of genius from Erik Lamela – on for the injured Son Heung-Min – when he curved a magnificent rabona finish beyond Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno in the 33rd minute.
Arsenal, who had seen Emile Smith Rowe’s long-range shot smack against the bar, then suffered more ill-luck when Cedric Soares hit the post, but were level on the stroke of half-time when Martin Odegaard’s effort was deflected out of the reach of Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris.
Mikel Arteta’s side continued to dominate a largely dreadful Spurs and took the lead from the penalty spot after 64 minutes when Alexandre Lacazette missed his kick but was fouled by Davinson Sanchez.
Lacazette recovered to send Lloris the wrong way for his 12th goal of the season.
Spurs’ day got worse when Lamela was sent off for a second yellow card, shown by referee Michael Oliver for a hand-off into the face of Kieran Tierney with 14 minutes left.
But they almost snatched a point in the closing moments when Harry Kane’s free-kick bounced off the post, with Arsenal defender Gabriel heading Sanchez’s goal-bound shot off the line from the rebound.
Arsenal, who dropped captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the game for disciplinary reasons, stay in 10th place but Spurs are now six points adrift of Chelsea in fourth, although with a game in hand.
UEFA have appointed Dutch referee Danny Makkelie as the man in charge of Tuesday’s match between Real Madrid and Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League’s Round of 16.
Danny Makkelie will referee the game between Real Madrid and Atalanta at the Alfredo Di Stéfano stadium, in the return leg of the Champions League Last-16 tie (Tuesday, 9pm CET). The Dutch match official will referee Zidane’s side for the first time in this competition.
Real Madrid have a 1-0 lead on aggregate, so any win and any draw would give them the ticket to advance to the Quarterfinals.
While the score on the first leg definitely makes Real’s job much easier, Los Blancos will still need to play with composure and effort. Atalanta have been improving in recent weeks and are a powerful offensive team, so it will be important for Madrid to be a solid defensive team on Tuesday.
Have Real Madrid reached the turning point with injuries?
The return game with Atlético at the Wanda last weekend seems to have been the turning point for Real Madrid as far as injuries are concerned.
It’s a brighter picture all around for Zinedine Zidane. The stats don’t lie, and the number of players returning to fitness has increased since then. The coach included both Eden Hazard and Sergio Ramos in the squad against Elche yesterday, leaving Mariano Díaz and Dani Carvajal as the only two players currently unavailable through injury.
It’s a far cry from the situation a month ago when Real Madrid had Nacho, Rodrygo, Fede Valverde, Álvaro Odriozola, Marcelo, Eder Militão and Dani Carvajal all out with various injuries in addition to Sergio Ramos and Eden Hazard.
Apart from Sergio Ramos making a welcome return to the team against Elche, another bonus for Real Madrid was Eden Hazard making an appearance from the bench in the 75th minute.
To say he’s not had the best of seasons would be the understatement of the year, but even though he’s taken a battering in the media, support from Zinedine Zidane and particularly the Belgian national team coach Roberto Martínez has been unwavering.
That says a lot in itself. Coaches can be quick to criticise players’ injury records, yet that’s never been the case where Zidane is concerned. The coach has always been a model of patience whenever discussions centred on Eden Hazard.
Occasions when Zidane’s frustrations have surfaced in the past have been notably few and far between.
Likewise, Roberto Martínez has never been one to hesitate in saying his piece about Eden Hazard’s injury problems. As a physiotherapist himself, Roberto knows more than most about the challenges that players face.
Accordingly, he is also well aware that there is a constant demand for players to return to the team at the earliest opportunity.
It would have been easy for Zidane to take the approach favoured by several other high-profile coaches when asked about injuries.
Some coaches don’t appear to think twice about targeting their frustrations towards the medical teams or even the players themselves in an attempt to justify poor performances or results on the field.
There’s no doubt that injuries have been a significant issue at the club this season, and a classic example of this is the number of injuries that affect certain players more than others.
Dani Carvajal has suffered in this respect because players are often most at risk of injury when they have been out for a while, and like Eden Hazard, it is becoming a season for Dani to forget.
His recent injury, sustained in the Valencia game, has kept Dani on the side-lines since February. As discussed on previous occasions, the more this happens, the more difficult it becomes for players to return with the confidence that the same thing won’t happen again.
People often say that a team is at its most vulnerable defensively immediately after they’ve scored, and the same can apply to players returning from injury.
Making that transition from full-scale practice matches on the training ground can be a difficult gap to bridge when you take into account the differences in intensity between training games and proper league or cup fixtures.
The two may not seem to differ much with the empty stadiums and lack of atmosphere, but playing against outside opposition results in a higher intensity of competition than taking part in games against your teammates ever will.
However hard players may appear to be competing, there’s always the likelihood that they won’t go in for challenges in training in the same way they would do in a competitive fixture, either for fear of inflicting an injury on a colleague or even themselves.
The latter happens when people are in their final stages of training before making a return to competitive play and may be hesitant about making full-blooded challenges, either subconsciously or otherwise. Either way, the real test of fitness comes when the game starts.
Moving forward, Zinedine Zidane will likely spend his Sunday by assessing the progress of those who returned against Elche with Tuesday’s game against Atalanta in mind.
Neither Marcelo or Álvaro Odriozola were in the squad for Elche, so on that basis, it will be interesting to see who Zidane includes to face the Italian club on Tuesday.
His main worry at the moment will be whether anyone has picked up minor injuries on Saturday. If so, the question will be if these are likely to respond to treatment in the next 48 hours.
The Welsh attacker has been impressive for Tottenham in recent weeks and Mourinho tried to explain why it took him so long.
Tottenham manager and former Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho talked to the press about Gareth Bale, who has been completing quality performances for the London-based club lately, even if it took him almost an entire half of the season to reach that kind of level. bale is still a Real Madrid player, so his current performances could eventually decide his future if Tottenham are interested in prolonging his current loan deal for another season.
“For the last two years, he had what he had in Madrid. Ask Real Madrid, then maybe you will understand why it took him time to reach this good form. Maybe staying patient was the main reason why he was able to show his level in the last two weeks,” said Mourinho.
If Tottenham decide not to keep Bale for another season, it won’t be easy for Real Madrid to find him a new club willing to pay his salary, especially when he is set to become a free agent in the summer of 2022.
Right now, Real Madrid fans should want Bale to keep performing this way so that Tottenham think the loan deal is worth another season.
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane says he is unsure whether captain Sergio Ramos will stay at the club.
Centre-back Ramos, 34, is out of contract at the end of the season.
The Spain international has won four Champions League, four Club World Cups and five La Liga titles in 16 years at the Bernabeu since arriving from Sevilla in 2005.
“I want to be honest and I have to say I don’t know what’s going to happen with him,” Zidane said.
“We want him to stay here. He’s always going to be an important player and I want him to remain here, that’s what I’ll say as a coach.”
Ramos, who has scored 100 goals in 668 appearances for Real, has said he wants to remain at Real.
Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho says he is concerned only with challenging for the Premier League top four, and not North London rivals Arsenal, before their meeting on Sunday.
Mourinho’s side are seven points above the Gunners going into the match at Emirates Stadium.
They have finished above their rivals for the past four seasons.
“I look up, I don’t look down. If Arsenal was seven points ahead of us, I would look to them,” said Mourinho.
“But because we have seven points more than them, I don’t look down.”
Tottenham are seventh in the table and sit five points behind Chelsea, who occupy the Premier League’s fourth and final Champions League place.
They have won their past five games in all competitions by an aggregate score of 15-1, following a 4-1 win against Crystal Palace last weekend and Thursday’s 2-0 Europa League last-16 first-leg win over Dinamo Zagreb.
“We look always to the next match. If instead of Arsenal it was Villa or Newcastle, the next matches we’re going to play [with] exactly the same feeling,” added Mourinho, who has won both his meetings with Arsenal as Spurs manager.
“We feel we’re better than the position we have in the table and we want to improve our position so we need points for that.
“It doesn’t matter the opponent, doesn’t matter if it is a London derby. It’s a Premier League match, three points are there to fight for and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
Addressing his history with Arsenal and rivalry with former Gunners boss Arsene Wenger when in charge at Chelsea and Manchester United, Mourinho said: “I want to be respectful, I don’t want to go in that direction.”
He added: “In spite of the rivalry between us and Arsenal I want to be respectful. Arsenal is a big club with a big history, a little bit like us they’re trying to build a better future. I have total respect for them.”
Zinedine Zidane spoke to the media on Friday lunchtime, previewing Real Madrid’s Saturday afternoon clash with Elche and answering questions a wide range of topics. Discussing the game itself, he said: “There are no easy games. We know our opponents are in the lower half of the table, but they’re a good team.
They’ve had a lot of good games in this season, with their new coach too. So, we know we need to play a good game to take the three points. We’ve welcomed back Sergio Ramos and Eden Hazard for tomorrow’s game. They could have minutes, but I won’t reveal my line-up now of course.”
Coach Zidane was asked about Christiano Ronaldo especially on the possibility of his return to Real Madrid. On that, Zidane said: “You know what Cristiano Ronaldo means for Real Madrid. You know the affection we have for him at Real Madrid. What he did here was magnificent. Right now he’s a Juventus player and he’s doing really well there. I can’t say anything about all the many things they say. I can only say that he is a Juventus player and we have to respect that.”
Real Madrid is on the lookout for Erling Haaland despite the fact that other clubs are arguably interested.
Erling Barut Haaland
Erling Haaland – who by the way is the fastest player to reach 20 Champions League goals, might be the new No 1 target for Real Madrid this summer, since he is probably a more possible signing than Kylian Mbappe.
However, there is a good chance that Barcelona might be in the race for his signing as well. Borussia Dortmund’s finances aren’t the best they’ve been and this gives Los Blancos some hope for the move. On the other hand, Barcelona’s financial situation is well known, and they might have to sell before they can fund such a move for the young star.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed. It will be interesting to see how this year’s transfer saga plays out.
The Blaugrana were extremely wasteful in the last 16 as their hopes of qualifying for the quarter finals evaporated
Antoine Griezmann
Antoine Griezmann has revealed the regret in Barcelona’s dressing room after their inability to cash in on first-half chances doomed them to a 5-2 aggregate defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last 16.
The forward said the team deserved better following its “big” second-leg performance that ended 1-1 despite the Catalans owning 72 per cent of possession and putting 10 shots on target.
In addition to an array of opportunities from open play, including one that saw Sergino Dest have an effort tipped on to the post, Lionel Messi had a spot kick blocked by Keylor Navas.
“We don’t deserve to leave so soon in Champions League, neither do the fans, but that’s the way it is,”
“They didn’t know how to defend,” the attacker added to RMC Sport. “There is this incredible goal from Leo and then the penalty. But Navas was amazing.
“We played a big game, especially in the first half.
“We can have regrets about going there. It’s a shame but that’s how it is, this is football, this is the Champions League.
“We have [Messi], we have possession, we knew we were going to have chances but we didn’t know how to put them [away]. There is still a long way to go to finish the season.”
Griezmann also commented on his inconsistent playing time of late at Barcelona, dismissing speculation he’s unhappy.
“Sometimes I am on the bench, sometimes I play 90 minutes,” he said. “I am at the service of the team. I’m trying to have fun and prepare well for the end of the season including the Euros because we have a big competition ahead of us with the national team.”
Egypt and Senegal internationals inspired Jurgen Klopp’s men to the quarter-finals of the European competition
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane scored to help Liverpool secure a 2-0 victory over RB Leipzig in Wednesday’s Champions League game.
The victory at Anfield helped the Reds advance into the quarter-finals of the European competition on a 4-0 aggregate after securing a 2-0 win in the first leg.
Salah has been the standout performer for the Reds this season and against the Red Bulls, he shone to ensure his side progressed in the tournament. Mane was afforded his eighth appearance in the Champions League this season and utilized the opportunity to add to his tally.
RB Leipzig dominated the first half of the game but failed to get the ball into the back of the net, missing a few chances which they paid for in the second half.
After the restart, Liverpool seemed to awake from their slumber as they pressed aggressively for the opener.
Their efforts paid off when Salah broke the deadlock in the 70th minute after receiving a timely assist from Diogo Jota.
The Egypt international, thus, took his goal tally to 25 this season, scoring the most across all competitions among the Premier League stars.
Four minutes later, Mane doubled Liverpool’s lead with a fine effort after benefitting from Divock Origi’s assist.The forward has now bagged 12 goals in the knock-out stage of the elite European competition since he made his
debut and only Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more than him since the 2017-18 season.
Mane has now scored 12 goals and provided five assists across all competitions in the 2020-21 campaign for Liverpool.
Salah was recently rewarded for his impressive goalscoring form, winning Liverpool’s Goal of the Month for February and has now clinched the individual accolade six times on the bounce.
The forward along with Mane will hope to continue their impressive performances in front of goal when the Reds take on Wolverhampton Wanderers in their next league game on March 15.
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