Liverpool Secures Top-Eight Finish in Champions League, Salah Scores 50th European Goal

Liverpool Secures Top-Eight Finish in Champions League

Liverpool's 2-1 victory over Lille on Tuesday secured them a top-eight finish in the Champions League, guaranteeing their place in the last 16 and avoiding the two-legged knockout phase. Despite narrowly missing out on clinching the top spot with a game to spare, manager Arne Slot emphasized the importance of avoiding the playoffs.

Barcelona, who staged a dramatic 5-4 comeback win over Benfica, remain close behind Liverpool, just three points adrift with one round of the league phase remaining. However, Slot downplayed the significance of the current standings, highlighting the unpredictable nature of the new format.

"It is far off to say it is an advantage to be one or two," Slot said. "You might be lucky, you might be very unlucky. For me, it doesn't tell me anything. The most important thing is we managed to skip a round."

Mohamed Salah Scores 50th European Goal for Liverpool

Mohamed Salah continued his impressive European form, scoring his 50th goal for Liverpool in the competition. Substitute Harvey Elliott sealed the victory in the 67th minute after Jonathan David had leveled for Lille.

Liverpool also set a new club record for their longest spell without conceding a goal in European competition, surpassing the 572 minutes achieved in the 2005-06 season under Rafael Benitez.

Lille's Disciplined Performance Despite Defeat

Despite the loss, Lille manager Bruno Genesio expressed pride in his team's performance, particularly their disciplined display in the second half after being reduced to 10 men.

"They don't have the best players in the world (but) it is how disciplined they are, how hard they want to work," Slot said. "We didn't force the pass, we kept the ball for as long as we could. The only thing I wasn't happy about was it was one chance for the other team.