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| Sadio Mane celebrates after his exquisite first goal |
Liverpool's 3-1 Champions League win at Bayern Munich proved they are "back at the top level of European football", according to manager Jurgen Klopp.
Last year's finalists eased into the quarter-finals courtesy of two goals from forward Sadio Mane and another from defender Virgil van Dijk.
"The second half was very mature," said German manager Klopp.
"In the moments we did play football we immediately destroyed the organisation of Bayern. It's absolutely deserved."
Liverpool's win means there are now four Premier League sides in the last eight, following victories for Tottenham, Manchester United and Manchester City.
Barcelona, Juventus, Porto and Ajax make up the rest of the quarter-finalists. The draw takes place on Friday.
Klopp added: "Whoever we get as an opponent we will take. The boys love the competition, they really dig in in these moments.
"The attitude was outstanding. The front three were outstanding, the boys who came on helped a lot.
"We've laid down a marker tonight that LFC is back on the top level of European football."
<--- Mane double sees off Bayern Munich--->
Sadio Mane scored his 10th goal in 10 games, at the Allianz Arena.
Mane gave Liverpool a 26th minute lead - and a precious away goal - after outwitting Rafinha and keeper Manuel Neuer before Bayern levelled on the night when Joel Matip inadvertently turned into his own net.
Van Dijk headed in the second after the break as the Reds once again took a firm grip of the tie before Mane sealed the win with a header late in the game.
It was an impressive defensive display from Liverpool who limited Bundesliga champions Bayern to only two efforts on target.
"We haven't defended like we usually defend in our away Champions League games so far, today we did," added Klopp.
"In a game like this there will be mistakes, but you have to stay in the game and try and control it in the moments you can control it."
The German also hailed Mane's first goal, which was the one moment of great quality in the match.
"The first goal, I have to watch it back probably 500 times - it's outstanding what Mane was doing," he said.
The Senegal forward has now scored 10 goals in his past 10 games, while Liverpool's record £75m signing Van Dijk has three goals in his past four outings.
The Dutch defender said: "It is a great evening. We knew it would be tough as they have a great team with fantastic players.
"We were unlucky on their equaliser, but we got the job done and we're into the last eight. It is very important and it feels amazing to score."
<---- 'We were too defensive' ---->
Meanwhile, Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski said his side failed to put Liverpool under enough pressure.
"We knew it'd be a tough game," he said. "But in both games we played too defensively. We didn't try to push forward and create situations. Today we didn't risk that much.
"We played too deep. We tried to push Liverpool, but sometimes it was two against four. It wasn't our game."
Bayern coach Niko Kovac added: "We still have two titles to fight for. We're top in the Bundesliga and we're still in the cup. Our goal is to win both of these competitions."
Liverpool join Premier League rivals Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham in the quarter-finals, with all four sides able to face each other in Friday's draw. It is the first time that four English teams are in the quarter-finals since 2008/09.
Liverpool had lost their previous four away games in the Champions League, but they produced a controlled performance to overcome Bayern, who managed only two shots on target, both in the first half.
The managers
Jurgen Klopp: "Scoring three here is really difficult, that's massive, and a big step for us. We will see what we can do with it, but it's a fantastic sign. I love it. We set a mark for LFC with this wonderful club that we really are back on the landscape of top international football.
"We all think that's where this club belongs and tonight we proved it at least a bit. I am really happy about the result and the fact we are through."
Player ratings
Bayern Munich: Neuer (5), Rafinha (5), Sule (5), Hummels (5), Alaba (6), Thiago (5), Martinez (6), Ribery (5), Rodriguez (5), Gnabry (6), Lewandowski (5)
Subs: Coman (5), Goretzka (5), Sanches (5)
Liverpool: Alisson (6), Alexander-Arnold (7), Matip (7), Van Dijk (8), Robertson (7), Milner (7), Wijnaldum (7), Henderson (5), Mane (8), Firmino (6), Salah (6)
Subs: Fabinho (7), Lallana (5), Origi (5)
Man of the match - Sadio Mane
With two goals in Munich, Mane has now scored more away goals in the European Cup/Champions League than any other player. His first goal to give Liverpool the advantage in the tie was superb as he controlled a long pass and finished into the far corner. He didn't get many other openings, but made sure of victory with his second goal.
Opta stats
Liverpool's progression means four English sides will play in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2018-19, the first time the competition has seen as many since 2008-09 (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United).
Bayern Munich have failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign, when they also fell out at this stage to Italian side Inter Milan.
Since the start of last season, no player has provided more Champions League assists than Liverpool's James Milner (10).
Sadio Mane's brace means he has now scored seven away goals in the Champions League for Liverpool, more than any other player for the club in the history of the competition (including European Cup).
Liverpool forward Sadio Mane has scored 69% of his Champions League goals in the knockout stages of the competition (9/13); of players with at least 10 goals, only Ivica Olic (7/10 - 70%) has a higher such percentage in Champions League history.
Joel Matip is only the fourth Liverpool player to score an own goal in the Champions League after Sami Hyypia (2007), John Arne Riise (2008) and James Milner (2018).
Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer became just the sixth goalkeeper to play in 100 Champions League matches after Iker Casillas, Gianlugi Buffon, Petr Cech, Victor Valdes and Olivier Kahn.
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