Liverpool rediscovered lost form and seized the initiative against RB Leipzig with a 2-0 win in their last-16, first-leg clash in chilly Budapest.
Clinical second-half strikes from Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, both courtesy of dreadful defensive errors, leave the German side facing a formidable task in the return leg at Anfield on March 10.
The win moves Jurgen Klopp's men to the brink of the quarter-finals and also ends a run of three defeats that has left the English champions 13 points behind leaders Manchester City in the Premier League.
"It was a game we wanted, it was a game we needed," Klopp said. "Leipzig can be a real monster. They overrun teams, they can be really physical and we controlled them in an exceptional way."
Klopp was delighted to see Liverpool exceed expectations. "A lot of people probably expected us to slip again ... and the boys didn't," he said.
The first leg was moved from Leipzig to the Hungarian capital due to Germany's strict Covid-19 travel restrictions.
"We made two huge mistakes which would be punished at any level," Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann said. "We didn't play badly and we have to live with the result."
Mohamed Salah scored Liverpool's opening goal in Budapest. AFP
