Mission accomplished as Liverpool progress
Liverpool win 5-0 on aggregate
Liverpool eased into the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in nine years with no great alarm in a lifeless goalless draw at home to Porto.
This game was the antithesis of their 5-0 win in the first leg at the Estadio do Dragao, but a professional performance, a fifth clean sheet in eight European matches and no apparent injuries represented mission accomplished.
Jurgen Klopp made five changes –two more than he had suggested pre-match – with the most significant being a rest for 32-goal forward Mohamed Salah and a first start in two months for Adam Lallana.
Whether alterations, the five-goal cushion from the first leg or Saturday’s lunchtime match at Manchester United affected the occasion is open to debate, but the game was played at a much lower intensity than the norm.
That was reflected in the fstatistics which showed Liverpool failed to have a single shot on target in the opening 45 minutes for only the second time this season. Sadio Mane, pictured, having volleyed over a good chance from Joe Gomez’s cross, came closest on the halfhour when he chested down James Milner’s diagonal ball and shot past Iker Casillas, making his 167th Champions League appearance, but saw the ball rebound off the post. Egyptian ace Salah was given a 20-minute run-out in the second half and had one angled shot easily saved.
Casillas gave Anfield a reminder of his quality on potentially his final Champions League appearance by clawing away Danny Ings’ looping header late on.