Liverpool put their different form behind them by booking a place in the Uefa Champions League quarter-finals following a thumping 4-0 win at home against Galatasaray.
Arne Slot’s side overturned a one-goal first-leg deficit and provided a stirring response to their growing number of critics.
Dominik Szoboszlai put Liverpool in front in the 25th minute and they could have been ahead on aggregate before the break but Mohamed Salah had a penalty saved. The hosts broke free after the break, with goals from Hugo Ekitike, Ryan Gravenberch and Salah.
Salah made up for his penalty miss with a sumptuous curled shot from outside the area to score his 50th Champions League goal.
Salah thus became the first African player to reach the landmark in the competition. The result set up a last-eight clash with holders Paris Saint-Germain, who easily beat Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate.
“I think we did a great job tonight. We could win 10-0, we missed a few chances, but we did still a good job,” Liverpool striker Ekitike told TNT Sports.
“We can be proud of ourselves tonight and we can look forward to the quarter-final.”
“When I sat in the locker room at halftime, I was thinking we need to kill this game,” Ekitike added.
“I had my chance. I could have scored more tonight, to be honest, but I had my chance. And then I think we felt more free and yeah, Ryan scored straight away.”
Liverpool head coach Slot praised the mentality of Salah after the forward responded to missing a penalty with an inspired second-half performance.
“It says a lot about him that after you miss a penalty just before half-time as that can sometimes be hard for an individual or for a team,” said Slot.
“We have had a lot of setbacks this season, a lot of first halves or second halves where we have created chance after chance after chance without doing justice to how we have performed – so not scoring.
“And then Mo and the team came out in the second half the way they did; he assisted Hugo, a great assist, and then scored a trademark goal that he has scored so many times in this stadium and for this club, cutting inside, finding the corner.”
Meanwhile, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha ended Newcastle’s campaign as Barcelona survived a first-half fright to book a quarter-final place.
The 37-year-old Poland international hit the Magpies with a quick-fire double before the Brazilian struck to seal a 7-2 win on the night and an 8-3 aggregate victory as Eddie Howe’s side imploded.
Kane creates history
Harry Kane became the first English player to hit 50 Champions League goals, scoring twice as Bayern Munich humbled Atalanta to complete a 10-2 aggregate win.
The Bundesliga giants set up a mouth-watering quarter-final against Real Madrid, following up their 6-1 victory in Bergamo with a 4-1 home success at the Allianz Arena.
Kane hit the first two, a retaken penalty and a brilliantly worked second, to bring up his half-century in 66 games and take his season's tally to 47.
“With such a lead from the first leg, it's easy to be complacent,” Kane said. “But we said that we wanted to win with the same style as the first leg.
“Credit to the boys, we were there from the first to the last minute. Some of the youngsters got their debuts. Overall we can be happy.”
Substitute Filip Pavic, aged 16, became the youngest Bayern player and the third-youngest player to appear in a Champions League game.
“It'll be a tough game,” Kane said. “Whenever you face Real Madrid in the Champions League, you expect a fight. But we'll be ready. We don't fear anyone, even though it's going to be tough.”
