Reds cop double injury disaster ahead of PL blockbuster as massive win keeps quadruple alive
Liverpool surged towards the Europa League quarter-finals with a 5-1 win away to Sparta Prague on Thursday, as Roma thrashed Brighton 4-0 in the Italian capital.
Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen had to come from 2-0 down to preserve their unbeaten season in a 2-2 draw against Qarabag in Azerbaijan.
Liverpool remain on course to send Jurgen Klopp off with a quadruple of trophies as the Reds were not distracted by Sunday’s mammoth Premier League showdown against Manchester City.
Klopp named a strong side and got what he wanted by killing off the tie in the first leg, even if there was a price to pay in further injury problems as defenders Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate had to be replaced.
Alexis Mac Allister got the visitors off to the perfect start in the Czech capital as he won and converted a penalty after just seven minutes.
Sparta had dumped out Galatasaray in the previous round and created plenty of chances against a makeshift Liverpool defence.
But the difference in quality between the sides showed in the final third. Nunez’s dipping shot from long range outfoxed Peter Jensen to make it 2-0, before the Uruguayan smashed home Mac Allister’s through ball in first-half stoppage time.
Conor Bradley replaced Gomez at half-time and his first act was to fire into the top corner of his own goal one minute into the second half.
But Luis Diaz’s deflected effort quickly restored Liverpool’s three-goal cushion.
Mac Allister and Nunez were withdrawn in the second period with one eye on City’s visit and there was some good news on the injury front for Klopp as Mohamed Salah made his comeback from a hamstring injury as a substitute.
Salah thought he had marked his return with a goal, but a VAR review disallowed his strike for
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