Liverpool once again put Porto to the sword as they made it back-to-back wins at the start of a new Champions League campaign, coasting to a 5-1 victory at the Estadio do Dragao.
The Reds had come out on top in a five-goal thriller in their Group B opener against Milan at Anfield, yet there were no such nerves on Tuesday against opponents they have made a habit of beating through the years.
Jurgen Klopp was in charge for 5-0 and 4-1 wins on Portuguese soil when steering Liverpool to successive final appearances in the competition in 2018 and 2019, and this year's squad appear on course to make the knockout stages once more.
Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino scored twice, the latter after coming on as a substitute, while Sadio Mane was also on target, making it five goals for him in as many appearances against Porto.
The result should not come as too much of a surprise, considering Porto had not managed a win in the previous eight meetings. The hosts were dealt a blow when Pepe was ruled out with an injury suffered in the warm-up, while Otavio's outing was cut short after 14 minutes.
Not long after the enforced change, Liverpool went ahead. Curtis Jones' low shot was parried by Diogo Costa onto team-mate Zaidu Sanusi, leaving Salah with a simple close-range finish.
The Porto goalkeeper did do better to deny Jordan Henderson a goal to mark his 400th appearance for the club, turning the visiting captain's fierce free-kick away, but his failure to cut out James Milner's low cross allowed Mane to tap home before the interval.
Salah slotted away his second of the game on the hour before heading to the bench and while Mehdi Taremi headed in to pull a goal back, it only served to anger Liverpool into a response.
Costa rounded out a shocking performance by straying from his area to try to reach Jones' throughball, allowing Firmino to roll the ball into an unguarded net. The Brazilian added another just four minutes later when reacting quickly to a deflection, though only after a VAR check for offside.
What does it mean? Liverpool show ruthless edge to seize control
After a frantic 3-3 draw away at Brentford on Saturday – a game in which Liverpool trailed early before getting level, then twice let slip leads in the second half – this was far more routine for Klopp and his players.
Such was his team's dominance, the German was able to substitute Salah, Mane and Milner with a weekend clash with Manchester City in mind, the latter set to deputise again for the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold for the visit of the Premier League champions to Merseyside.
Salah stays hot to surpass Eto'o
Thanks to his double, Salah moves on to 31 Champions League goals in his career, putting him clear of Samuel Eto’o for second place on the all-time list for African players in the competition. Only Didier Drogba (44) has managed more.
The Egyptian has also now scored in each of his last six appearances for Liverpool. That is the first time a player has netted in six in a row for the club since April 2018, when Salah himself managed to do so for seven successive games.
Costa goes cold as Porto roll over
Porto were largely toothless in attack and porous at the back, not aided by the performance of a keeper who could have done better with at least three of the goals he conceded.
He saved just 61 per cent of the attempts that came his way and, after Taremi’s finish from Fabio Vieira’s cross made it 3-1, his decision to rush out in the 77th minute allowed Firmino to kill off any slim hopes of a comeback.
What's next?
Liverpool take on City at Anfield on Sunday in a huge clash prior to the international break. Porto, meanwhile, are at home again, this time taking on Pacos Ferreira in domestic action.
Dozens arrested following violence from Legia Warsaw fans at Villa Park
More than 30 people have been arrested following violence from Legia Warsaw fans prior to their Europa Conference League game against Aston Villa at Villa Park.
Missiles were thrown at police as the visiting fans were held in the coach park near the stadium, before they were due to enter for Thursday’s group game.
West Midlands Police said four officers were injured and although the game started on time, no Legia fans were allowed into the stadium ahead of kick-off.
The force said in a statement following the game that 39 people were arrested after the “disgusting and highly dangerous scenes”, with one of the injured police officers taken to hospital.
Two police horses and two police dogs were also hurt.
Chief Inspector Tim Robinson said: “This should have been a great evening of football which was enjoyed by fans from both clubs.
“Unfortunately, there were appalling scenes which saw away fans dangerously throw flares and other missiles at our officers.”
He said the “extreme violence” left police with no other choice but to prevent away fans entering the stadium, adding: “The safety of everyone is our priority, and clearly we had no other option.”
Villa and West Midlands Police both released statements before the game had finished, with the Premier League club revealing requests to the Polish club before the tie for help in preventing ticketless fans from travelling went unanswered.
Villa said: “Aston Villa Football Club can confirm that no away fans were allowed into Villa Park for this evening’s UEFA Europa Conference League fixture with Legia Warsaw on the advice of West Midlands Police following large-scale disorder outside the stadium caused by visiting supporters.
“The UK safety authorities, UEFA and Aston Villa, communicated on November 2 that the ticket allocation for away fans for this fixture would be reduced to 1,002 on the advice of safety authorities as a result of previous large-scale disorder caused by Legia fans last month at AZ Alkmaar.
“A number of Dutch police officers were injured during that disorder. As a consequence, UEFA banned Legia supporters from travelling to Mostar for their game against HSK Zrinjski.
“In spite of numerous requests for cooperation from Legia Warsaw concerning their travelling supporters, especially in the last two days, no assistance on the serious safety matter of away fans attending Villa Park was forthcoming from the visiting club.
“The club has repeatedly, including this morning, raised concerns in conjunction with UEFA and all the relevant authorities to Legia that ticketless away supporters were attempting to attend Villa Park.”
Villa said Legia fans “engaged in planned and systematic violent acts against West Midlands Police officers” about an hour before kick-off.
The club added: “Aston Villa strongly condemns the behaviour of those visiting supporters and would like to thank West Midlands Police for their professionalism in very difficult circumstances.”
In its own pre-game statement, the Polish side accused Villa of restricting access to their fans in a move it called “counterproductive and baseless”.
It said senior executives, including the club’s owner, made the decision to boycott the game in response to the move.
Legia coach Kosta Runjaic refused to be drawn on the disorder in the post-match press conference.
He said: “I think its a different topic, it’s not my business. I’ve been in a big focus to lead the team. We represented Polish football in a good way, all other things outside the stadium I don’t want to comment.
“We have great fans, they support us home and away. We can always count on them. So far since I’ve been at Legia I’ve had a good experience with our fans. I don’t know the content of it all happening.
“I don’t know the details, which is why it’s better I don’t speak too much about it. Unfortunately our fans weren’t in the stadium and the atmosphere would have been better.
“It’s not about the fans, it’s a pity but we can’t change it.”
Jurgen Klopp satisfied as Liverpool secure top spot with a game to spare
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp declared himself satisfied with the 4-0 victory over LASK which secured top spot in their Europa League group with a match to spare.
Two goals from Cody Gakpo and one apiece from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah, his 199th for the club, saw them coast past the Austrians at Anfield.
Toulouse’s draw with Union Saint-Gilloise meant Klopp’s side cannot be caught at the top and crucially that means avoiding the play-off round when the competition restarts in February.
“Two top results for us tonight in the group,” said Klopp.
“It was clear, with the defeat at Toulouse (last time out) we made it a bit more tricky but because of our result and their result we are now top of the table and that will not change.
“That’s good, very important in the busy schedule we have from now on.
“A lot of positives in the game, a lot of good football. The thing I didn’t like too much, and told the boys at half-time, (was) this game should have been put to bed already at half-time.
“You cannot play better, you cannot set it up better, (but) you can finish it better obviously – but we didn’t.
“Caoimhin (Kelleher) worked for his clean sheet, which he desperately wanted, and that’s good.
“We scored a fourth goal in the last minute or whatever, so result top, performance really good (and) nobody got injured. All good.”
Liverpool are favourites for the Europa League but having put themselves firmly in the title race the demands on Klopp’s side are likely to be significant when the competition resumes.
However, the Reds boss refused to relegate Europe to a second-tier ambition.
“Unfortunately, my career is not like this where I can choose, to be honest,” he added.
“I have to take what I get. When we play the competition it’s the most important competition on the planet. Easy as that.
“But now we play Premier League on Sunday (at home to Fulham) and so that is then the most important competition, definitely.
“We want to go as far as somehow possible (in the Europa League).”
Gakpo said the squad were determined to compete in all competitions they were in.
“We have to keep going because we have big goals for the season. That’s it,” he told TNT Sports.
“We just have to keep going and win as much as possible. We have a lot of quality in the group and I think with this quality we can win a lot of games.”
Philippe Clement insists Rangers will go all out to secure Europa League spot
Philippe Clement insists Rangers will be going all out to secure Europa League football against Real Betis after struggling to a 1-1 draw against Aris Limassol at Ibrox.
The Light Blues, who had suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to the Cypriot side on matchday two, struggled after falling behind after 28 minutes to a Shavy Babicka goal.
Clement replaced Todd Cantwell with 20-year-old Ross McCausland before the break and the young Northern Ireland international, who signed a new deal earlier in the week, levelled early in the second half with his first Gers goal.
Rangers moved on to eight points, one behind Real Betis whom they play in the final Group C game in Spain on December 14.
Sparta Prague are on seven points and Aris Limassol are on four and although a spot in the Europa Conference League is assured for the Light Blues, only a victory in Spain can guarantee progression in the Europa League.
Clement said: “We have everything to win there.
“We already have European football in the new year but we can also win the group.
“So for sure that is going to be the idea – to win the game and end the group in the right way.
“There are still a few weeks and I have time to think and see what the team situation is.”
The Belgian revealed he took Cantwell off to get more width into the team.
He said: “I had to make a change early, something I don’t like to do.
“But we were missing with width on our right side and missing running players in behind the defence there.
“I gave that message a few times to Todd but he kept coming into the ball all the time, so that’s why I made the change to put Ross in, who is more of that profile.
“Todd’s best position is elsewhere but we have been in the situation where we haven’t had a lot of players on the right side.
“Scott Wright was not available, and Ross [McCausland] is coming out of the academy and taking his first steps and he is not ready to shine every three days, and play every 90 minutes; that’s impossible.
“And Rabbi Matondo was injured. So we have had a lot of problems in the last couple of weeks. Players are coming back, but we have to work hard.
“I know Todd’s best position is as a number 10, or coming off the left side, so I’m really happy with him, what he has showed for the team in the last couple of weeks because he played that position, and he can play that position.”
Aris Limassol boss Aleksey Shpilevsky claimed the unbeaten double against the Glasgow giants was a “miracle” as he expressed disappointment at leaving with only a point which ends their European journey this season.
He said: “The fact that we are undefeated against this big team, it is like a miracle not only for Aris but for all of Cyprus.
“What the guys are doing, with our budget, with our conditions, perhaps you can show the guys our training pitch and what it looks like then you will laugh at this, that makes it absolutely amazing.
“We are very disappointed about the fact that we didn’t manage to win.
“It was possible. It was not the best game from our side but we didn’t allow too many chances for Rangers, the way it might be expected.
“It is always crazy and always upset to lose a goal like that and that’s why I am disappointed about a draw in Ibrox against an amazing club, amazing fans, amazing atmosphere but it was possible but we have to accept it.”
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