LIVERPOOL

SADIO MANE blasted in a clinical hat-trick as Liverpool all but booked their place in the quarter-finals last night.

Sadio Mane opened and finished the scoring as he individually roared back to form, and Liverpool collectively put Porto to the sword in a ruthless display of counter-attack and finishing.

But the standout goal of the first leg of this last-16 tie was their second, as Mohamed Salah became the first Liverpool player to score 30 goals in all competitions in a single season since Luis Suarez – with 31 – in 2013-14.

Salah dinked the ball over Porto keeper Jose Sa, controlled it on his head and then slotted the ball home.

This was the first time the Reds have graced the knockout stages of Europe’s top competition in nine years.

It was new territory for a lot of Jurgen Klopp’s side and maybe why they started tentatively on the big stage.

Klopp said before the game he knew Liverpool can match the best in Europe. Porto do not quite fit that bracket but they do sit top of the Portuguese league as unbeaten leaders with just one defeat at home this season in the Champions League group stages.

The hosts looked promising early on and only for an outstretched leg of Dejan Lovren, Otavio’s strike may have found the back of the net but instead skimmed its roof.

But as the rain came down at a soaked Estadio do Dragao, the Reds soon felt right at home. Of course it was Salah who found the first opening but was too slow to square it for Mane.

The Senegal striker would have his chance in the 25th minute, though, when Georginio Wijnaldum managed to bundle the ball into his path.

Mane’s shot was weak but he got a stroke of luck when Jose Sa, starting ahead of Iker Casillas, let the ball squirm under him and it trickled into the net. It has not been the best season for Sane so far, by the standards he set in his debut campaign at least, but that was his fourth goal in his last