- Poor Napoli, Inter out
Spanish champions, FC Barcelona handed English side, Tottenham Hotspur a lifeline as magical Mohammed Salah shot Liverpool into last 16 stage of this year’s UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night.
Liverpool’s qualification came at the expense of Italian side, Napoli that lost 0-1 at Anfield while Lucas Moura’s equalizer against Barcelona at Camp Nou was all Tottenham needed to celebrate their passage into next stage of Europe’s football prized competition.
Interestingly, the gains by Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur meant that both Premiership teams scraped through, knocking out their Italian counterparts, Napoli and Inter Milan.
Obviously heeding the instructions of their German gaffer, Coach Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool were on the front foot with a magical performance against the Italians at Anfield, as Mo Salah almost walked into the net with the match’s solitary goal in the 34th minute of play.
The lone strike was well deserved given Liverpool’s gutsy display and it put paid to Napoli’s ambition of advancing from the group stage. Having arrived at Anfield as group leader with nine points before the match, the Italians left dejectedly in third place after the 90 minutes hostilities.
The other Group C team, Paris Saint Germain (PSG), were on fire as they flogged Red Star Belgrade (FK Crvena Zvezda) 4-1, with the goals coming from Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Marquinhos to finish top of the group with 11 points.
The result saw Liverpool capturing the second spot with 9 points, while Napoli, with same points will now drop to the less prestigious Europa League.
At Camp Nou, it was all smiles for Coach Mauricio Roberto Pochettino and his Tottenham Hotspur as they dug deep to hold Group leaders, Barcelona to 1-1 draw. Though the Spaniards had already qualified weeks ago, with two matches to spare, the stalemate gave Tottenham the much-desired salvation to be part of the Last 16 pairings on the night.
The Londoners were helped by PSV Eindhoven, which also played a 1-1 draw with Inter at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan.
PSV scored first in the 13th minute and took Inter’s Mauro Icardi, 60 minutes after to slot in the equaliser. BUt they needed a win to move to the next round. Like Napoli, they will also now be relegated to the Europa League.
The teams that have so far made it to the round of 16 stage include: Ajax, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona*, Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund*, and Juventus. Others are Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain*, Porto*, Real Madrid*, Roma, Schalke, Tottenham Hotspur
- Teams with asterisk are the confirmed group winners
