Rangers vs Liverpool LIVE: Champions League result and final score after Mohamed Salah hits record hat-trick
Rangers 1-7 Liverpool: Scott Arfield’s opener had Ibrox rocking but Firmino’s double sparked a remarkable turnaround, as Salah scored the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history
Mohamed Salah scored a hat-trick in just six minutes as Liverpool came from behind to thrash Rangers at Ibrox, as the Scottish side were eliminated from the Champions League in the group stages.
A double from Roberto Firmino turned the match around to ease the pressure on Liverpool after Scott Arfield gave Rangers the perfect start and had Ibrox rocking when he fired past Alisson.
But Firmino then silenced the home crowd with a simple equaliser from a corner before the Brazilian struck his second as he tucked an excellent cross from Joe Gomez past Allan McGregor. Firmino then turned provider to set up Darwin Nunez, who slotted in Liverpool’s third.
It went from bad to worse for Rangers as Salah came off the bench to score the fastest ever Champions League hat-trick, while Harvey Elliott added a seventh, providing a boost to Liverpool’s confidence ahead of Sunday’s clash against Manchester City.
Follow all the reaction as Liverpool put seven past Rangers in the Champions League:
Jurgen Klopp on returning to top form
After losing 3-2 to Arsenal on Sunday Liverpool sit 10th in the Premier League table and look to be a shadow of their former selves in terms of form. They haven’t been helped by injuries to key personnel but manager Jurgen Klopp says that they need to keep fighting to turn things around.
“We have to keep fighting, it will not happen overnight.” said the German in a pre-match press conference, “That we don’t play our absolute best football, I saw that, but again we played away against the team in form in the league [Arsenal], first in the table, a great team, top, really good players, all good, but we lost it in the way we lost it.
“Now it is difficult to judge. So what did we miss in this specific game? Just the right ref decisions would have been helpful, to be 100 per cent honest, and then we can judge the game new. If we had won that game, for the outside world our problems are completely sorted. We know it is not like that.
“Now we lost the game and three players, that’s obviously the opposite of what should have happened. The only thing we can do is to keep fighting - and that’s what we will do. Everybody who wanted to see it could see it; we fought against Arsenal really hard.”
‘There’s something special about Ibrox'
Rangers midfielder John Lundstram is backing the crowd at Ibrox to give the team added motivation to pull off a special result against Liverpool in Glasgow tonight.
"There’s something special about Ibrox on European nights," Lundstram said. "As long as we’re up against them and laying a glove on them, hopefully we can get something."
The 28-year-old joined Rangers from Sheffield United in 2021 and says last season’s run to the Europa League final, where they beat Red Star, Braga, RB Leipzig and drew with Borussia Dortmund in Glasgow, gives the players encouragement that they can achieve something similar tonight.
"At Ibrox, you have to get up against people, get the crowd up, get them going and try to instil a bit of fear in the opposition," he said.
"Anyone who has been here will have felt the atmosphere, felt the aura around the place. If we can get up to them and in their faces, it might leave us open a bit and everyone will have to be brave in the stands and bear with us.
"If we can do that, that’s the only way we can get a result against a team like Liverpool, who are really talented."
Jurgen Klopp says Didi Hamann ‘has no idea’ after criticism from former Liverpool midfielder
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp snapped at a reporter at a Champions League press conference after he asked about Didi Hamann’s criticism of him.
Former Liverpool player Hamann has said Klopp could lose his position with the Reds if their season doesn’t improve. Liverpool are 10th in the Premier League and have lost a Champions League match this season, with a tricky test at Rangers to come on Wednesday night.
When asked about Hamann’s comments that Liverpool lacked “spark”, Klopp retorted sarcastically: “Oh great, he’s a fantastic source, well respected everywhere. That [being a former Liverpool player] doesn’t give you the right to say what you want, especially when you have no idea.
“I actually think Didi Hamann doesn’t deserve that you use his phrase to ask me a question. Do me a favour and ask your own question. Try to ask a question without the word ‘spark’, that’s the challenge now.”
Jurgen Klopp says Didi Hamann ‘has no idea’ after criticism from ex-Liverpool player
Jurgen Klopp retaliated after being asked about criticism aimed at him this week
Rangers vs Liverpool early team news and predicted line-ups
Giovanni van Bronckhorst will likely revert to his preferred back four after trying a back five at Anfield. Alfredo Morelos is still searching for fitness after an injury layoff while James Sands is back from suspension.
Klopp has fresh injury worries after Luis Diaz suffered knee damage against Arsenal and Trent Alexander-Arnold twisted his ankle. Joel Matip is out but Fabinho is likely to come back into the side in midfield. Midfielder Arthur Melo will be on the sidelines until next year at the earliest.
Predicted line-ups
Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Sands, Goldson, Barisic, Lundstram, Davis, Kamara, Sakala, Kent, Colak.
Liverpool: Alisson, Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Fabinho, Thiago, Elliott, Salah, Firmino, Jota.
Rangers vs Liverpool
Hello and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s Champions League action between Rangers and Liverpool.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mo Salah earned the Reds a 2-0 victory when the sides met at Anfield a week ago and manager Jurgen Klopp will be hoping his team repeat that performance tonight. In the time between these two games Liverpool slipped to defeat against Arsenal in the Premier League and are now 14 points adrift of the league leaders which may prompt them to target success in this season’s cup competitions. They currently sit second in Group A, three points behind Napoli, but a victory tonight would mean they only need to defeat Ajax to secure qualification.
Rangers, meanwhile, are still looking to secure their first point of the campaign having been defeated in all three of their Champions League fixtures so far. It’s been a harsh return to Europe’s top competition for the Scottish side but if ever there was a time to record a win it is against Liverpool at Ibrox in front of the home supporters.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments