Topics: UEFA Champions League, Liverpool, RB Leipzig, Jurgen Klopp, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah
The Senegalese attacker scored the landmark goal to secure a last 8 berth for the Reds.

Liverpool were offered a smooth passage into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League at the expense of RB Leipzig with Sadio Mane scoring what was their 100th goal in the competition under Jurgen Klopp. The 28-year-old Senegalese forward sealed the fate of the Reds by doubling their lead after Mohamed Salah had put them in front earlier.

Despite coming into Wednesday's encounter with a 2-0 lead from the first leg, Liverpool had to make a statement with their performance as a result of their poor run of form that had seen them lose six Premier League home games in succession. It could have been a done deal for the Reds earlier in the encounter but the 2019 champions lacked efficiency in front of goal, squandering a barrage of chances that came their way just like Leipzig.

In the end, their breakthrough came as both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, just like in the first leg, got on the scoresheet in the second-half to punish the Bundesliga club for not taking the opportunities that came their way. The former made use of a pass from Diogo Jota and dazzled his way into the opponent's penalty box to drill a shot into the bottom-right corner.

Four minutes later, Mane was also called into action for his second goal in succession in the knockout phase, reacting quickly to Divock Origi's shot across. The goal, which basically prevented an unlikely comeback, was also of significant value as it was the 100th scored in the 44th Champions League game in Jurgen Klopp's reign.

On a personal level, Mane took his tally in the knockout stage of the European competition to 12. In essence, only Cristiano Ronaldo (13) has scored more at that phase of the competition since the Senegalese made his debut in the 2017-2018 season.