Liverpool on Tuesday slipped to a shock defeat against Inter Milan at Anfield but managed to seal their place into the Champions League quarterfinals with a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Lautaro Martinez’s wonder strike sealed a 1-0 win for the reigning Serie A champions but Inter failed to capitalise after Alexis Sanchez was sent off moments after the goal.
It is Liverpool’s first defeat in the competition this season but their 2-0 win at the San Siro last month was enough to seal their place in the final eight.
Jurgen Klopp’s side can now turn their attention to the Premier League with fixtures against Brighton and Arsenal to come in quick succession.
The first half was a tight affair with Inter edging the early stages as they pressed for an early goal but failed to create any clear-cut opportunity.
The game was stopped after 25 minutes when Liverpool supporters in the Kop stand alerted the referee and players to a medical emergency.
The match resumed and moments later, Liverpool almost took the lead on the night but Joel Matip’s header rattled off the crossbar.
Virgil Van Dijk came close to scoring from the resulting corner but Milan Skriniar made a stunning block to deny the Liverpool captain.
The hosts hit the woodwork again shortly after the break when Mohamed Salah’s close-range effort struck the bottom of the post.
Just after the hour mark, Inter silenced Anfield as Martinez hit a stunning strike from outside of the box that arrowed into the top corner.
Inter’s momentum was immediately halted seconds later when Sanchez received a second yellow card and the visitors were reduced to 10 men.
Liverpool started to dominate possession after the sending off and hit the woodwork for a third time after Salah’s effort struck the post.
Substitute Luis Diaz went close in stoppage time but his goalbound effort was cleared off the line by Arturo Vidal.
Liverpool have now reached the last eight of the Champions League for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
Bayern Munich thrash FC Salzburg to reach Champions League quarterfinals
Meanwhile, Robert Lewandowski scored three times as Bayern Munich rolled into the Champions League quarterfinals with a 7-1 win over FC Salzburg at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.
The Bundesliga leaders won the tie 8-2 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw against the Austrian side in Salzburg on Feb. 16.
Lewandowski had the hosts up two goals by the 21st minute, drawing a pair of fouls in the penalty area — both against Maximilian Wober — and calmly dispatching the resulting spot kicks to make it 2-0.
Lewandowski completed his first-half trick minutes later with a goal from close range and Serge Gnabry added Bayern’s fourth soon after following a Salzburg giveaway to effectively put the game to bed almost before it began.
Thomas Muller got on the scoresheet early in the second half, sweeping home from a Leroy Sane assist.
Maurits Kjaergaard managed to pull one back for Salzburg with a powerful shot that beat Manuel Neuer at his near post.
It was too little, too late for Salzburg, though, who were making the first knockout round appearance for an Austrian side in Champions League history.
Muller hit his second and Sane scored two minutes later as Julien Naglesmann’s side put further gloss on the scoreline en route to a 20th Champions League quarterfinal berth for the Bavarians.
The result marked the second time in Bayern Munich history they scored seven goals in a UCL knockout round match, the other being their infamous 8-2 win over FC Barcelona in the 2020 quarterfinals.