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The Matchday 6 action in the UEFA Champions League 2018-19 season saw Liverpool and Napoli battle it out for the runners-up spot in the group, in order to qualify for the round of 16. Paris Saint Germain meanwhile faced a tricky tie in Belgrade where they faced off against Red Star, and were expected to win and emerge group winner's in a potential group of death.
For Liverpool, a 1-0 victory would have been enough, but Napoli with only a draw could have secured a round of 16 spot.
Lets look at the 3 major talking points from Matchday 6 of the UEFA Champions League Group C matches.
#1 Salah's brilliant strike enough for Liverpool to progress into round of 16
Group C was truly the group of death in the Champions League, with last season's runners up Liverpool, Serie A runners up Napoli, and French champions PSG all locking horns with one another to progress into the knockout rounds.
The Reds went ahead in the first half through a brilliant goal from Salah at a tight angle. With this goal, Liverpool had done enough as they clung on to the lead till the end. Jurgen Klopp's side will now join Paris Saint-Germain as the runners up in Group C, while Napoli identical on points with Liverpool, looks to return to winning ways in the Europa League.
Salah's 14th Champions League goal for Liverpool means he is only behind legend Steven Gerrard, but he was not the only saviour for Liverpool, Alisson Becker who pulled out a splendid save from Arkadiusz Milik in stoppage time was worth the £65 million paid to Roma in the summer.
Liverpool would be out of the competition had Alisson not made the fantastic save.
"If I knew he was this good, I would have paid twice as much!" Klopp joked afterward.
"I'm not sure if a manager has ever been more proud of a team than I am at the moment," Klopp said to BT Sport. "We deserved to win and it's just brilliant. My respect for Napoli couldn't be bigger, how strong they are"
Van Dijk echoed his manager's words:
"We want to play on the highest level and the Champions League, other than the Premier League for us, is the highest level. We want to reach the maximum and hopefully do better than we did last year in the Champions League"
#2 Cavani and Neymar scored in Belgrade to ensure top spot for PSG
Paris Saint-Germain reached the Champions League round of 16 as winners of Group C following a clinical 4-1 victory away against a very strong Red Star Belgrade side.
Neither of Napoli and Liverpool had previously managed to win away at Belgrade. But Thomas Tuchel's side inspired brilliance and courage throughout the match as first-half goals from Edinson Cavani and Neymar, a second-half header from Marquinhos, and a late Kylian Mbappe strike were enough to send PSG into the last 16.
This PSG side is different from last season's, as they have improved since their first showing away at Anfield in a 3-2 loss on Matchday 1. Since their defeat to Liverpool, PSG have managed to draw twice against Napoli, defeated Red Star Belgrade twice, and won against Liverpool in the reverse fixture in Paris.
"The same players played against Liverpool [on Matchday 5]. It's not about the system, but about the attitude. It's really hard to win here and the guys played magnificently," Thomas Tuchel told RMC Sport. "I really liked our reaction after the goal. We controlled the game. We played with a lot of risks and we sometimes forgot to close the spaces"
Young prodigy Kylian Mbappe said:
"I don't think the team is improved; it's more that we had a realisation. We started performing and did what was asked of us. We asked questions of ourselves as individuals and as a team"
Captain Thiago Silva was relieved at reaching the round of 16.
"The goal is achieved. I was a little scared this year that we would not go to the round of 16 because it was difficult," he said, as quoted by L'Equipe. "But in the difficulty, there are positive things. I'm happy with the last matches we did. I think mentally, since Naples, we have changed a lot"
#3 Napoli plunged to Europa League as Carlo Ancelotti's 18-year-old record ends
As Liverpool progressed to the round of 16, Napoli was only left to bemoan their loss at Anfield. The Serie A side finished third in Group C after falling to a 1-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday.
Ancelotti's men had almost achieved the impossible, as they had not lost a single Champions League fixture this season, and needed only a draw to progress into the last 16. But a first-half Salah strike and a stoppage-time save from Alisson denied the men from Naples.
"We have to accept it, even if this is very disappointing, as we did everything we could," Ancelotti said to Sky Sports Italia. "Over the six games, we perhaps did more than anyone expected and came very close to qualification, so there are no regrets.
"We lacked a little sharpness when building our forward play, as Liverpool pressed us very high and in the second half, it was more disorganised from both sides. Having a few difficulties against the side that lost the Champions League final last season is hardly that surprising"
With the Champions League out of the way, Ancelotti and Napoli will shift their focus to the Europa league.
"We will have to give everything in the Europa League to go as far as possible, and even try to win it," he said. "We know it won't be easy because now we are the favourite for it. It will be a difficult competition because there are good teams in the Europa League"
Star defender Kalidou Koulibaly seemed to echo his manager's sentiments:
"You can try to look back over regrets, like Angel Di Maria scoring in the last minute [to earn PSG a 2-2 draw on Matchday 3], but I don't think there ought to be regretted. We did all we could, we were a little unlucky and now hope to rediscover that luck in the Europa League"
