Salah hits stunner as Reds progress
The Daily Mirror reports there will be a “full English” in the Uefa Champions League last 16 after Liverpool and Chelsea joined Manchester City and Tottenham in next Monday’s draw.
Holders Liverpool secured their place in the knockout rounds after a 2-0 win last night against Red Bull Salzburg.
Naby Keita opened the scoring on 57 minutes and just 100 seconds later Mohamed Salah sealed the win with a “miraculous finish” from a tight angle, says The Guardian.
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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp hailed his team after coming through and gaining the points needed for qualification from group E. The Anfield side finished top of the group with 13 points and are joined in the round of 16 by Napoli.
Klopp said: “I love it, I really love it that my team is so smart that they listen and they put in a shift in like that. Salzburg was unbelievably strong, especially in the first half, but we as well were ready for that fight.”
Blues march on
It was “double delight” for the English teams, says The Daily Telegraph, as Chelsea beat Lille 2-1 at Stamford Bridge to finish runners-up in group H.
First-half goals from Tammy Abraham and Cesar Azpilicueta meant Frank Lampard’s side ended the group campaign on 11 points, the same as group winners Valencia. Ajax missed out on the last 16 by a point.
Lampard said: “It did get twitchy. We need to take our chances better. At 2-0 I thought it was not quite done and when Lille scored it made it a more nervy finish to the game than it needed to be.
“It’s going to be a work in progress. With the young players we have in this side there will be bumps in the road. I push them and can be quite hard on them, setting the high standards I want to see them reach, but at the same time I have to be patient.
“Today was a sign of how much work we still have got to do. It should have been a calmer finish to the game and that is the biggest thing, for me, that we need to improve.”
In tonight’s Champions League games Manchester City travel to Dinamo Zagreb for their final group C match (5.55pm). Tottenham are away against Bayern Munich in group B (8pm).
Champions League reactions: Chelsea hold on to qualify as Ajax and Inter Milan crash out
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