Champions League update

2017 - 2018 UEFA Champions League knockout stage results, fixtures

Liverpool earned a dramatic 5-0 victory over FC Porto in Portugal in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie. Sadio Mane bagged a stunning hat-trick, while Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino were also on target on a night to remember for Reds players and their fans - especially the more than 3,000 that traveled to Portugal to support their club. Five-time European champions Liverpool have met the two-time winners on five occasions in continental competition and are yet to lose a game. Before the much-anticipated match began in heavy rain, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was interviewed and asked what he thought about Porto. "It is normal that you respect an opponent when you play in the Last 16 of the Champions League. They are very experienced in European competition and very successful in the Portuguese league. So that's how it is. We have to be as strong as possible in both departments, defense, and attack," replied Klopp. "We need to be really spot on from the first second. We need the right attitude, we need to be ready for the fight, it will be a very physical game. I am always optimistic, I am happy to be here with my boys, the mood is good, so let's play football!"

Porto 0-5 Liverpool
Liverpool goals: Sadio Mane 25, Mohamed Salah 30, Sadio Mane 53, Roberto Firmino 70, Sadio Mane 85

Liverpool is well on their way on securing their place in Europe's elite competition 2018 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals as Sadio Mane bagged a treble alongside Mo Salah's 30th goal of the season and a Roberto Firmino strike, as Liverpool soundly defeated their European rivals. A fit Mane benefitted from a goalkeeping error to open the scoring before Salah sent the ball home for Liverpool's second goal. Mane tapped into an empty net for his second goal of the night after the break, before Firmino scored to turn the game into a rout. Near the end of the game Mane wrapped up his hat-trick with a powerful strike. Jürgen Klopp described Liverpool's Champions League rout of Porto as Senegal striker Sadio Mané's "comeback" after he bagged a hat-trick for the highest-scoring team the Champions League. Liverpool took their tally for the current campaign to 28, two more than PSG, as Mané, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah's 30th goal of the season delivered the heaviest home defeat to Porto in their European history.

Klopp's team have now scored 99 goals in all competitions this season and Liverpool manager Klopp was full of praise for his men and of Mané after coming back from a recent dip in form. "He gave the right answer. I said to him after the last game when we met on the pitch: 'Finally, you are back.' Tonight he showed it again," said Liverpool manager Klopp of his forward's stunning hat-trick that inspired Liverpool's easy win against Porto. "He was always important, he was always fantastic for us even in his 'not that good' moments. That's real quality. If you are not 100% but still involved in goals that's really important. Then it will come, if you keep working really hard like he did.The first was a little lucky, but the other two - the second one was about being in the right place and he used his fantastic skills on the third one so it's good, really good. I'm happy." Klopp described Liverpool's performance as "exactly as good as necessary" and claimed the last-16 tie was not over, despite the quarter-finals beckoning following this away win. "I'm too long in the business to think anything is sorted before the final whistle is done," added Klopp.

Mohamed Salah also earned praise from his manager following his latest Liverpool milestone. "We spoke a lot about Mo in the last few weeks, all completely deserved. Sadio had his comeback tonight and Roberto was there again with outstanding work rate," said Klopp. "If somebody is the second quickest to 30 goals at this big club that makes it more exciting, so congratulations. Hopefully, it won't stop." The Champions League quarter final is next up after Jürgen Klopp's side to all intents sealed their passage with another emphatic European victory at Estádio do Dragão on Wednesday. Klopp later played up the importance of the second leg against Porto on 6 March while playing down the extent of his side's superiority in the 5-0 win. Notably, Egypt international Mohamed Salah became the quickest Liverpool player to score 30 goals in a season in 122 years. Salah's achievements at Liverpool may have left Roma feeling short-changed at receiving 'only' £36.9m for their former winger, the sporting director, Monchi, admitted. "In the end we could reach €50m with bonuses," he said on Thursday. "I still think the price could have been better."

Southampton might say the same having banked up to £36m for Sadio Mané. His return to form in Portugal, with the first hat trick of his Liverpool career, was one of the reasons Klopp sees room for improvement in the highest scoring team in the Champions League this season. "It was tough on me," Mané said of his recent loss in form. "But it is part of football. I never doubted I could help the team and I never stopped working hard in training. I always tried to remain balanced, even when it was not working, because it is my job and I have to do it. As a player sometimes it is not easy for me but I never doubted myself." Klopp also highlighted his players impressive defensive work. The clean sheet was Liverpool's third in succession on the road, with goalie Virgil van Dijk bringing composure on his Champions League debut for the Reds. After their win against Porto, Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool side traveled to Marbella, Spain for warm-weather training the morning after with great memories and increased confidence following a match that condemned the Portuguese league leaders to their heaviest European home defeat in history. Dejan Lovren, the player with the most assists in the Champions League this season, has his eye on Kiev and the Champions League Final battle on 26 May.

"Why not?" asked Lovren. "Of course we can win it. The hardest thing in football is putting the ball in the back of the net and we have got players who can do that. The other side we have got to work on is clean sheets. We have got to manage games better. We have talked about it over the last few months as a team and with the manager as well. That, ultimately, is what wins you titles. You can be brilliant going forward but everyone remembers the great Newcastle team who were brilliant going forward but they never won anything. They say defenses win you championships and, if we can be more solid. We have kept clean sheets recently and our game management has been good. We can still attack, attack but we can now put men behind the ball and take the sting out of games. We are improving at that and that is what is pleasing the most. We have got to keep improving and keep experiencing these games in Europe, the big nights that matter and learning from the process. We have had a good result and performance but there are going to be times, hopefully in the next few years, when you have got to knuckle down and fight and find a way to win. That is big game experience and being in these competitions. There is ability and talent in that dressing room but it is a young dressing room. But this team can go anywhere."

Lovren described Liverpool's game-management against Porto as "serious football" compared to the three-goal lead slip at Sevilla in the group stage. "When you are 2-0, 3-0 up you think it is over but it is not and you still have a lot to play," Croatian defender Lovren added. "We showed quality and character and from everyone it was brilliant. We have so much quality that we can beat everyone if we are on our top-level - simple as that." Teammate James Milner added, "This team can go anywhere."

Squads
Porto made three changes to the side that played Chaves last Sunday. Ricardo and Iván Marcano replace Maxi Pereira and the suspended Felipe in the defence, while Yacine Brahimi comes in for Jesús Corona up front. Leading scorer Vincent Aboubakar is out injured. Liverpool made three changes to the squad that played Southampton last weekend. Dejan Lovren replaced Joël Matip, James Milner came in for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson replaced the suspended Emre Can.

Porto
Jose Sa, Ricardo Pereira, Reyes, Marcano, Alex Telles, Sergio Oliveira, Herrera, Marega, Otavio, Brahimi, Tiquinho Soares. Subs: Casillas, Maxi Pereira, Osorio, Torres, Paciencia, Corona, Waris.

Liverpool
Karius, Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, van Dijk, Robertson, Milner, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane. Subs: Mignolet, Gomez, Moreno, Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ings, Matip.
Referee: Daniele Orsato

The 2018 UEFA Champions League knockout stage first leg ties resulted in massive victories for Premier League leaders Manchester City and Liverpool. The Last-16 games are well underway with titan European football clubs competing on the road to victory and Champions League silverware in 2018! Check out the results below, and follow links to buy legal, authentic Champions League match tickets for upcoming fixtures in the Last 16, semi-finals, and Champions League 2018 Final. Several EPL clubs are still in the tournament competing for a spot in the semi-finals including England Premier League leaders Man City who are aiming for a historic quadruple in 2018, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Man United, and Liverpool.

Champions League 2018 knockout stage

Round of 16 first legs results, tickets
Juventus 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Basel 0-4 Manchester City
Porto 0-5 Liverpool
Real Madrid 3-1 Paris Saint Germain

20 February
Chelsea v Barcelona tickets
Bayern Munich v Beşiktaş

21 February
Sevilla v Manchester United tickets
Shakhtar v Roma

Round of 16 second legs tickets

6 March
Liverpool v Porto tickets
Paris Saint Germain v Real Madrid

7 March
Tottenham Hotspur v Juventus tickets
Manchester City v Basel tickets

13 March
Manchester United v Sevilla tickets
Roma v Shakhtar

14 March
Barcelona v Chelsea tickets
Beşiktaş v Bayern Munich