Jurgen Klopp hailed a sensational display from Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday as the Reds thrashed Porto 5-0.
Liverpool’s trip to Portugal looked like being a potentially daunting prospect given Porto are unbeaten in the Primeira Liga this season, Sergio Conceicao’s men top of the table by two points with a game in hand.
Porto have only conceded 10 goals in 21 league matches this season but Liverpool ran riot in the first leg, with Sadio Mane grabbing a hat-trick.
Mane’s strike partners Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino also got on the scoresheet as Liverpool put one foot in the last eight, their progression seemingly a mere formality.
“It was very professional, very mature and in the right moments very aggressive,” Klopp told BT Sport.
“Good defending, good counter-attacking, keeping the ball, moving them around. It was not easy tonight, it was hard work and in the end the boys enjoyed the work and that’s the most important thing.
“They [the goals] were all fantastic. The first one, when Dejan [Lovren] won the ball and Sadio can shoot at the end, the second goal was a nice finish from Mo, and the third was fantastic play on the counter attack. They were all fantastic and we needed them all.”
A beaming Klopp added: “I saw a lot of fantastic performances tonight, a result like this is only possible if they are all spot on. They all performed. Of course Sadio is man of the match with three goals, fantastic goals, but Roberto Firmino’s work rate was outstanding.
“They all did well and that’s the only way to be successful.”
With no weekend fixture due to their FA Cup elimination, Liverpool will now enjoy some warm-weather training, but it will not be a holiday for Klopp’s squad.
“We go now to a camp and have one-and-a-half days of not too hard work, but then we have four sessions, there is a lot to do,” said the Reds boss.
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