Liverpool shrugged off their Premier League malaise to storm into the Champions League quarter-finals by thrashing Galatasaray 4-0 at Anfield.
Goals from Dominik Szoboszlai, Hugo Ekitike, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah on Tuesday overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit for Arne Slot's men and set up a reunion with defending champion Paris Saint-Germain in the quarterfinals.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
Slot needed a reaction from the English champions after they were booed at Anfield on Sunday for the latest in a series of lackluster performances in the 1-1 draw against Tottenham.
The Champions League, languishing fifth in the Premier League, could save Liverpool's season and Slot's job.
The Dutchman had rested some of his stars at the weekend and was rewarded with a dominant performance that could have resulted in an even more complete scoreline.
Galatasaray's hopes of an upset suffered a blow in the opening minutes when star striker Victor Osimhen injured his forearm in a collision with Ibrahima Konate.
The Nigerian international was clearly affected and played until half-time, when he was replaced by Leroy Sané.
By that time, the Turkish champion's lead had already been erased.
Szoboszlai has been Liverpool's standout player in a troubled season and tied the tie with a cushioned finish from a well-worked corner in the 25th minute.
Galatasaray somehow escaped further punishment before the break.
Salah missed a glorious opportunity to immediately double the Reds' lead when he failed to round Ugurcan Cakir.
Florian Wirtz's deflected shot went over and Cakir repelled another sweet shot from Szoboszlai.
Salah's poor penalty was then saved by Turkiye's goalkeeper after Szoboszlai was brought down inside the area.
But in the second half the floodgates opened for the visitors. Salah atoned for the missed penalty with a perfect pass for Ekitike to score.
Two minutes later, Gravenberch finished off the rebound after a Salah shot had been saved.
Salah has been a shadow of his former self this season, on both sides of a public feud with Slot after being sacked in December.
He could and should have scored many more that night, but he scored his 50th Champions League goal in style with a spectacular back-heel shot from Wirtz.
Salah also hit the crossbar before asking to be replaced with an injury problem, as Galatasaray offered little resistance to Liverpool's waves of attacks.
The Reds face a very different challenge against PSG, who crushed Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate to reach the quarter-finals.
Slot has repeatedly spoken in glowing terms of the French champions.
Liverpool came closer than anyone to stopping PSG last season when Luis Enrique's men emerged victorious on penalties in the last 16 after a titanic fight.
Szoboszlai said he was delighted to achieve victory in such emphatic style but warned PSG would pose a formidable task.
“Today we showed the right direction of where we want to go and what we want to show everyone,” he told TNT Sports.
“I looked [PSG] When they played yesterday against Chelsea, they were no worse team than last season. But today we have shown that we are capable of doing everything.”
Elsewhere, Harry Kane scored a brace in Bayern's 4-1 victory over Atalanta to complete a 10-2 aggregate victory.
Barcelona weren't far behind as they thrashed Newcastle United 7-2 for an aggregate score of 8-3, with captain Raphina scoring two goals and assists each, and Robert Lewandowski also bagging a brace.
Tottenham Hotspur battled back against Atlético and won 3-2 with a late Xavi Simons penalty for a personal double, but the damage had already been done last week in Spain, where they lost 5-2.
The results mean Liverpool and Arsenal are the only two of the six Premier League teams to advance, as Chelsea and Manchester City were eliminated on Tuesday against champions Paris Saint-Germain and record winners Real Madrid respectively. Arsenal, for their part, ousted Bayer Leverkusen.
The quarterfinals, which will be played on April 7-8 and 14-15, are Real vs. Bayern, Atlético vs. Barcelona, PSG vs. Liverpool and Sporting vs. Arsenal.
