Liverpool didn’t so much as put one leg in the Europa League quarter-finals as launch a two-footed lunge into it here against Sparta Prague.
And if there was any doubt as to Jurgen Klopp’s pre-match assertion that he is not prioritising competitions in his final Liverpool weeks, it was dispelled over an hour before kick-off when the team sheet dropped.
Manchester City might be next up for the Premier League leaders back on home soil but that top-of-the-table clash was not at the forefront of the Reds manager’s thinking at Letna Stadion.
Well, the decision not to risk Mohamed Salah or Dominik Szoboszlai from the start was perhaps a hint of the magnitude of Sunday’s clash with Pep Guardiola’s men, but there was no messing around from Klopp as Liverpool contested their first Europa League knockout tie since the 2016 final.
And a 5-1 win here in the Czech capital has made the return leg at Anfield a virtual deadrubber next week, which will certainly appeal as Liverpool survey an FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester United later that week. The value of securing their passage at half time could yet prove so important as the season takes real shape before the international break.
Within five minutes of this one, Klopp’s decision to go strong was being vindicated as Alexis Mac Allister stroked home a penalty after his expert pressing robbed Asger Sorensen of the ball before he was taken to ground inside the area.
The Argentina international spoke of his difficult times before he was a World Cup-winning Premier League star in his Wednesday media duties but those worries are now a world away for a player who has enjoyed a sensational 18 months or so at both Brighton and Liverpool and with his national side.
At a relatively modest £35m, Mac Allister has to be a contender for signing of the season. He is another triumph for the club’s celebrated recruitment department, who rarely miss, it must be stressed.
The in-form Darwin Nunez made his first start for three weeks and needed just 45 minutes to make his mark. The No.9 curled home a beauty to double the lead before a rasping drive late in the half took his tally up to 16 for the campaign, one more than the whole of last season.
Nunez, who has scored four in his last three, has nine goals since Boxing Day and looks every inch like the powerful, confident and free-scoring frontman those at the club have always believed he can be. Man City won’t relish the task of trying to keep him quiet this weekend.
With a fair wind and the Anfield crowd behind him, a rampaging Nunez, in this sort of form, can make all the difference for that huge showdown this weekend. Over to you, Darwin.
Conor Bradley’s introduction for Mr Versatile Joe Gomez started in awful circumstances when his first touch beat the otherwise outstanding Caoimhin Kelleher to make it 3-1 but the Northern Irishman refused to let it dent his confidence and the three-goal cushion was soon restored through Luis Diaz’s 11th of the campaign.
Before that, though, there was the now obligatory injury concern with Ibrahima Konate forced off for Virgil van Dijk after suffering some discomfort early in the second half. The injuries have started to subside for Klopp but he needs this one like a hole in the head. He’s another one to potentially add to the lengthy list even if the manager indicated it was just a precautionary change.
Dominik Szoboszlai, another recent injury returnee, wrapped up the game in stoppage time with the fifth after Mohamed Salah had early been denied his 20th of the season for offside. The Egypt international has timed his own comeback from injury to perfection.
And given how much Klopp has been willing to showcase the talents of the club’s thriving youth academy this season – famously, in fact – one suspects the effort levels of U21 training might just be turned up a few extra notches with places in the team for the return leg next week now at stake.
The injury to Konate aside, this was about as perfect a tune-up as Liverpool could have asked for ahead of that aforementioned visit from City. It’s a fixture that has always been sizable during the Klopp era but there’s a debate to be had over whether this next one is the most important of them all.
Because as Klopp has already attested to this week, the next game is always given the most priority.
