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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp made a request to Mohamed Salah that he has never made to any other player during Thursday’s win over Sparta Prague.
The Egypt international scored in the 6-1 Europa League defeat, scoring his 20th goal of the season. He became the first player in the club’s history to achieve that goal in seven consecutive campaigns.
He completed his opening 90 minutes for the first time in two months, but Klopp admitted he wanted to take him out sooner and that required him to do something unique as the match progressed.
Speaking to TNT Sports, the German said: ‘It wasn’t the plan for him to play 90 minutes, the plan was to take him out when we brought in Mateusz (Musialowski), but Bobby Clark said (he felt something) and Mo is experienced enough that he recovers during the game.
“I told him not to defend anymore, I’ve never said that to a player before.”
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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp revealed he made a rare request to Mohamed Salah
Klopp went on to praise his star man, saying: “In the seven years we worked with him, consistency was the one problem we never had,” Klopp said after the Egypt international’s first start since New Year’s Day following a hamstring injury.
‘Mo is just delivering and delivering and delivering, his desire doesn’t stop, his quality is there and his desire to score doesn’t stop.
“He has improved in so many aspects since he started here. That’s right, he won’t stop.
‘I’m less surprised than maybe some others. To be honest, I already thought it had happened, but he was injured for a while, otherwise he would have done it in January or February. But great, very good, and great to have him back.”
Salah played the full 90 minutes against Sparta Prague for the first time in two months
Salah also provided two assists for Bobby Clark and Cody Gakpo, who scored twice, while Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai were also on target.
Liverpool reached the quarter-finals 11-2 on aggregate after an early blitz ruled out any hope of a comeback from the Czech champions.