5 Liverpool matches which should serve as a warning to Real Madrid

#4 Liverpool 7-0 Spartak Moscow

Coutinho (middle) scored a hat-trick against Spartak

Context - Liverpool faced Sevilla, Spartak Moscow and Maribor in their Champions League group stages. They threw away leads against Sevilla twice, drew with Spartak in Russia but did dispatch Maribor with a 10-0 aggregate over both matches.

Qualification for the knockout stages came down to the final match with Sevilla and Spartak in contention as well. The Reds were at the top of the group with 9 points, Sevilla were in second with 8 and Spartak were on 6. Now, the Spanish side faced Maribor at home and were expected to beat them.

This meant Liverpool had to first avoid defeat against Spartak at Anfield to clinch qualification. Secondly, the Reds had to beat the Russian side to top the group and ensure they get the round of 16 second leg at home. A loss would see Spartak qualify due to a better head-to-head and the English side would be knocked out if Sevilla beat Maribor.

(Video Courtesy - Dimensi BOLA YouTube Channel)

Result - If there were any doubts pre-match on how Salah and co. would go about the match, then they were put to bed right away. Philippe Coutinho opened the scoring with a penalty in the 4th minute before adding another 10 minutes later. Firmino scored a few minutes later to help the side firmly take control of the tie and their destiny.

A newfound ruthlessness came to the fore in the second-half with Coutinho completing his hat-trick, Sadio Mane scoring twice and Salah putting the icing on the cake at the end. Thus, all the permutations were smashed away as the Reds topped the group with a brilliant display of attacking football, another huge sign of things to come.