Football (Champions League): A Gala Liverpool sets up a meeting with PSG

The reigning English champions bounced back from their domestic worries with an electrifying, one-sided performance against the Turks, who were overwhelmed at every moment.

The Reds also got revenge on Galatasaray after suffering two defeats, 1-0, in Istanbul earlier this season, first in late September during the group stage and then last week in the round of 16 first leg.

Liverpool made the return leg seem like a formality as they set up a reunion with another team that gave them bad memories: PSG, who knocked them out at the same stage of the competition last season.

Arne Slot’s team had pulled off a shock win at Parc des Princes (1-0), but they were eliminated by the future European champions in the return leg at home, with a goal from Ousmane Dembele (1-0) and a masterful penalty shootout save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.

The faces of both teams have changed since last summer, especially with the departure of the Italian goalkeeper, but there will be a sense of revenge in the air.

With their summer signings upfront (Wirtz and Ekitike) and at the back (Kerkez and Frimpong), Liverpool offered their supporters a heavy metal style of football on Wednesday that harked back to last season, and even the Jürgen Klopp years, where the offensive waves seemed never-ending.

Despite trying to break down the Turkish defense through different tactics, the breakthrough came from a set-piece. Dominik Szoboszlai drifted out of the box on a corner, Alexis Mac Allister found him, and the Hungarian midfielder opened the scoring with his left foot (25th minute, 1-0).

Playing in the number 10 position where he excels, Szoboszlai not only scored his twelfth goal of the season, his fifth in Europe, but constantly harassed the opposition defense and won a penalty before halftime.

However, Mohamed Salah failed to convert the penalty with a poorly taken ‘Panenka’ that was saved by Ugurcan Cakir (45+4).

Salah redeemed himself with assists on the next three goals, securing Liverpool’s place in the quarter-finals, their first since 2022.

First, he set up Hugo Ekitike with a precise cross after a fluid team move (51st minute, 2-0), then forced a difficult save from the goalkeeper that Rayan Gravenberch capitalized on (53rd minute, 3-0).

Salah completed his performance with a superb curled strike from outside the box (62nd minute, 4-0), marking his 50th goal in the Champions League.

The Egyptian almost added a second with a shot that hit the crossbar (67th) and could have provided another assist if not for a Cakir save from Mac Allister (68th).

Shortly after, the “Egyptian King” requested to be substituted due to a physical issue, exiting to applause from the fans.

For Galatasaray, it was a nightmarish evening – the Super Lig leaders managed only one shot on target and lost two players to injury, Victor Osimhen and Noa Lang.