Pep Guardiola practically heard Manchester breathing a sigh of relief as Liverpool players lined up and alternated to hammer the ball into Sparta Prague’s goal. 

In the opposite part of the city, Erik ten Hag would have been hiding behind the couch out of concern about taking another beating.

With a ruthless performance, Jurgen Klopp’s team destroyed their Czech opponents, making the Treble winners’ point from last Sunday appear quite significant. With Liverpool’s current form, an early demolition job at Old Trafford could occur when they play their fierce rivals United on Sunday.

For the benefit of Ten Hag, let’s hope he didn’t watch the first fifteen minutes, during which Liverpool led 4-0 thanks to goals from Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah, Bobby Clark, and Cody Gakpo.

Mateusz Musialowski, the most recent graduate, made his first-team debut for the Kindergarten Kop, and 19-year-old Clark scored his first goal in Liverpool colours. However, during the announcement of the starting lineups, the stadium announcer mistook him for his father Lee.

But Salah’s night was his. For the eighth consecutive season, he surpassed the 20 goal mark in the league, something no other Liverpool player has ever accomplished. On his first start since New Year’s Day, he also collected a hat-trick of assists.

Credit is deserved, of course, as the scoreline makes this appear to be one of the season’s best performances, but Sparta were awful. 

Liverpool effortlessly cut through the Czech team’s defence, demonstrating the obvious class difference. Salah and Clark took turns stealing the ball and feeding one another for a tap-in, which led straight to Sparta’s second and third goals.

Dominik Szoboszlai’s deft work set up Nunez for a thunderous near-post goal that put Liverpool ahead earlier. 

Nunez, who is in excellent scoring form, was participating in his 47th game of a long season. However, he later produced a typical howler when he missed a five-yard shot.

This was a night to develop what Klopp refers to as “rhythm,” in addition to stamina and self-assurance, and Salah demonstrated this by setting up Gakpo to break the Dutchman’s five-game goalless streak.

Ironically or not, Liverpool relaxed a little and let Sparta equalise late in the first half through Veljko Birmancevic, which drove the away supporters into a frenzy. It was time for the comeback.

Naturally, even the most upbeat Sparta supporters—who never ceased chanting and dancing at the Anfield Road End—knew that wasn’t the case, and early in the second half, Szoboszlai’s strike deflected in off Ladislav Krejci to put Liverpool’s total for the tie into double figures.

After that, Liverpool’s players were lining up to join in the action. Harvey Elliott, a halftime replacement, curled in a beautiful finish from a distance that would have been the game’s winning goal if Gakpo hadn’t stolen the final touch and claimed it.