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Liverpool have hammered Sparta Prague 6-1 to storm into the Europa League quarter-finals 11-2 on aggregate.
Juergen Klopp’s side were 4-0 up within 14 minutes at Anfield on Friday (AEDT) thanks to goals by Darwin Nunez, Bobby Clark, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo.
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Serbian striker Veljko Birmancevic pulled one back for the visitors before the break, but Dominik Szoboszlai scored the hosts’ fifth in the 48th minute and Gakpo netted his second of the night to complete the Reds’ rout.
Salah’s strike was his 20th of this campaign and he accomplished the feat for the seventh-successive season, becoming the first Liverpool player in their 132-year history to do so.
“Mo is just delivering and delivering and delivering, his desire doesn’t stop, his quality is there and his desire to score doesn’t stop,” Klopp said.
“He has improved in so many aspects since he started here. That’s how it is, he will not stop.”
At the Bay Arena, Patrik Schick scored twice in added time to send Bayer Leverkusen through in the most dramatic of fashions after they trailed Azerbaijan’s 10-man Qarabag 2-0 and faced their first defeat of the season.
Xabi Alonso’s side came close to losing in Baku last week, drawing 2-2, and this time again fought back to win 3-2 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate.
The clear Bundesliga leaders are targeting a treble of trophies this term as they are also in the semi-finals of the German Cup.
Atalanta advanced 3-2 on aggregate against Sporting Lisbon after winning the second leg 2-1, while Brighton & Hove Albion won 1-0 thanks to a 37th-minute Danny Welbeck goal against Roma at the Amex Stadium, but exited the competition after a 4-1 aggregate defeat.
AC Milan eased into the quarters with a 3-1 victory at 10-man Slavia Prague to secure a 7-3 aggregate win, while West Ham United crushed Freiburg in a record triumph.
The Hammers overwhelmed the German club 5-0 thanks to goals from Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen, Aaron Cresswell and a brace from Mohammed Kudus to claim their biggest win in a major European competition and send them into the last eight 5-1 on aggregate.
“We looked like scoring tonight and looked the bigger threat,” David Moyes, in his 250th match as Hammers boss, told UEFA.com
“Obviously, we’ve got two or three exceptional individual players who helped us get goals. It was a brilliant performance for us to win by five.”
Benfica advanced with a 1-0 victory over Scottish side Rangers to secure a 3-2 aggregate win and despite Villarreal’s 3-1 home win over Marseille, the French side secured a 5-3 aggregate victory.
In the Conference league, Aston Villa progressed with a 4-0 win over Ajax after their first leg ended goalless in Amsterdam.
Ollie Watkins (25th), Leon Bailey (60th), Jhon Duran (75th) and Moussa Diaby (81st) were on target at Villa Park.
The Villains join Fenerbahce, Fiorentina, PAOK, Olympiacos, Club Brugge, Lille and Viktoria Plzen in the quarters.
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