Liverpool claimed a memorable win over Rangers in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The Reds ran out 7-1 winners over the Scottish Premiership club to move a step closer to securing qualification to the knockout stages. Jurgen Klopp’s side now have nine points from their four fixtures, and a draw in their next match against Ajax would book their place in the last-16.
Mohamed Salah stole the headlines with a quickfire hat-trick, and he was supported by a brace from Roberto Firmino and goals from Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott. It was a maiden Champions League goal for the latter, who was forced to wait for VAR to award his strike.
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Plenty of national media outlets were in attendance to watch Liverpool’s win. Here is a round-up of what they had to say.
Henry Winter, via The Times
“Class will out. The real Liverpool finally stood up. Placed under intense scrutiny given recent poor form, and placed even more under the harshest of spotlights when trailing to Rangers, Liverpool rallied superbly. Mo Salah will get the headlines for his six-minute hat-trick but the real leader, and rescue act, was Roberto Firmino.
“The Brazilian refused to be downhearted when Scott Arfield gave Rangers the lead. He simply focused on taking his chances, scoring twice, then setting up Darwin Núñez’s goal to kill off Rangers. Salah then arrived to take the match-ball, Harvey Elliott completed the rout, and the jubilant Liverpool fans were singing “I’m so glad Jürgen is a Red”. After all the negativity clinging to Liverpool recently this was a much-needed fillip for manager, team and fans. For Rangers, the positivity at the start had long disappeared.
“Liverpool had to come through a storm whipped up on the banks of the Clyde. Firmino kept his head amid the tempest blowing through Ibrox. The Brazilian was immense, leading the recovery when Liverpool were a goal adrift after Rangers had torn into them.
“This meeting meant so much to Rangers. For three hours outside the ground, and soon inside, their fans had gathered and talked and believed. Their team had immediately looked a far more assertive proposition than the meek men defeated at Anfield last week. This time, in keeping with their motto, Rangers were ready. They just weren’t ready enough for Firmino’s clever movement.”
David Hytner, via The Guardian
“In the end, it was a story of the brilliance of Roberto Firmino; the perfectly timed runs, the probing and the velvet smoothness of his touch. That, and a most outrageous substitute’s cameo from Mohamed Salah. It was 3-1 to Liverpool when he came on in the 67th minute. He scored his first goal on 75 minutes; by the 81st, he had gorged on a hat-trick. A limited Rangers team was broken.
“And so Liverpool eased to a second Champions League group-phase win over them in a little over a week and they are as good as qualified for the last 16. When Salah got his first, benefiting from extraordinary generosity in the Rangers backline to poke into the far corner, it was the prompt for the home fans to make for the exit.
“When he added his second from the edge of the area, many more followed. His third – shaped into the far corner – brought him the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history.
“The strange thing was that Liverpool had been dreadfully passive in the first half, falling behind to a smart Scott Arfield goal and fortunate to be level at the interval thanks to a Firmino header.
“But all of that was forgotten as Firmino moved his team into the lead, setting up a riotous closing quarter when Liverpool subjected Rangers to an ordeal. Firmino’s backheel for Darwin Núñez to make it 3-1 was sumptuous and, late on, there was time for Harvey Elliott to add the seventh.”
Sam Wallace, via The Telegraph
“As a great goalscorer, and a man who has decided the course of titles, Mohamed Salah’s part in the history of English football is well-established – and now he has a little slice of Scottish football history too, on a night that went as well for Liverpool as Jurgen Klopp could have hoped.
“Klopp sent Salah on as a substitute in the 67th minute with the game already won, and yet after the 6min 12sec hat-trick from the Egyptian, the fastest in Champions League history, it felt different again. This might not have been against one of the great sides of the Champions League, but it was at one of European football’s great stadiums.
“When the goals suddenly came in an astonishing avalanche – four in the last 15 minutes of the game including one for the teenager Harvey Elliott – it changed the mood around Klopp and Liverpool entirely.
“Seven goals away at Ibrox is – for all the inequalities of Premier League and its Scottish cousin – still a remarkable turnaround. In the context of Liverpool’s listless first half that was even more the case.
“They had been spectacularly mediocre by half-time when they went in level with Rangers, with the home crowd upbeat and more of the action in the penalty area of Liverpool’s goalkeeper Alisson. Now they face Manchester City on Sunday with a very different perspective on life.”
Richard Jolly, via The Independent
“Perhaps the key to getting the best out of Mohamed Salah is to drop him. Omitted then unleashed, the Egyptian warmed up for Manchester City with the fastest treble in Champions League history.
“In six minutes and 12 seconds of magical mayhem, Salah served a reminder of his brilliance. Rangers may consider themselves unfortunate to have faced him at his rapacious, rampant best, but a game in which Liverpool trailed ended up as a rout, Salah coming off the bench to seal their belated first away win of the season in spectacular style.
“Perhaps it added to the oddity of a team who have now won 9-0 and 7-1 this season while otherwise floundering. They went from struggling to superb in a six-goal second half as Rangers equalled their heaviest European defeat.
“Salah’s was a scene-stealing cameo but, as so often in Klopp’s reign, Liverpool really had Roberto Firmino to thank. In a season when others have regressed, he has been rejuvenated. The Brazilian’s brace took Liverpool from trailing to leading and him to eight goals in his last nine games. He set up the third with a delightful backheel for Darwin Nunez to slot in a second goal in as many appearances.”
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