The Reds played a continental match on a Thursday night for the first time since the 2015–2016 season. The match, which saw them stage yet another second-half comeback, resulted in the team advancing to the next round in Group E.
An incredible strike by LASK player Florian Flecker gave the home team an early lead, which they were able to hold onto before the halftime thanks to a brilliant reaction save from Tobias Lawal, who stopped a header from being scored by Darwin Nunez.
However, Liverpool came back in impressive fashion, as they have done so far this season against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Bournemouth, and Newcastle United. They were able to get back on level terms thanks to a penalty kιck scored by Nunez in the 56th minute of the match.
Luis Diaz, who had earned the penalty kιck, scored next off of a cross by Ryan Gravenberch, and then Nunez turned provider for Mohamed Salah, who scored in the 88th minute by poking the ball home through the legs of Lawal. Luis Diaz had won the penalty kιck.
By coming back from a goal down to win at the Raiffeisen Arena, Klopp led Liverpool to their 50th win in European competition, a milestone that no previous Reds manager had ever accomplished.
throughout his post-match press conference, Jurgen Klopp was able to make light of his record by cracking a joke about it, although he did acknowledge that the drаmаtic rise in the number of European games played throughout each season was also a significant issue.
“Let me put it this way: if I still have 50 after the group stage, then I’m still the most successful Liverpool manager [in this regard], and everybody will despise the fact that I’m the most successful! The German person commented that it was nice.
“We competed in a significant number of games across Europe. It is to our credit that we were able to secure so many victories; given the number of times we reached the championship round, it was only natural that we would have done so. It’s fantastic, but I think it might be due to the fact that in European competition these days there are simply a lot more games than in the past. I have a strong suspicion that is the case.”
In addition to Klopp’s historic night, Egyptian attacker Salah also etched his nаme into another chapter of continental lore by scoring a momentous 42nd European goal for the Reds in Austria. Salah’s goal came at the same time as Klopp’s historic performance.
The 31-year-old forward has now tied the all-time record held by the legendary Thierry Henry of Arsenal for the most European goals scored for an English club. He will have a chance to beаt the record when the Reds take on Union SG in two weeks’ time.
Klopp made 11 changes to his starting lineup in the second half, including full debuts for Ben Doak and Gravenberch, the latter of whom capped off an impressive display by assisting Diaz with a goal. Salah, who has either scored or assisted in all six games so far this season, was brought off the bench in the second half. Salah has either scored or assisted in all six games so far this season.
Klopp praised the “suρer” performance of the Dutchman while also singling out a few of the other starters at the Raiffeisen Arena. He continued by saying, “If we would have used Ben Doak a little bit more often, given him the ball, I think he would have gotten the ball more times on the touchline and passed the ball inside or whatever.”
“Stefan [Bajcetic] was able to find his way into the game after a very difficult beginning, but it was evident that we caused him problems with the timing of our passes. Ryan Gravenberch had an outstanding game under the extremely challenging conditions, and his contributions were crucial to our success.
“I believe that Ibou [Konate] could receive eighty minutes, and Stefan could receive minutes. Therefore, there were a lot of reasons to be optimistic, and despite my cockiness, I am content with the way that game turned out.
Liverpool currently has a two-point lead at the top of Group E and will get back into action in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon when they host West Ham United at Anfield.