London: Liverpool beat Leipzig 2-0 to ease into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals 4-0 on aggregate while Paris Saint-Germain drew 1-1 with Barcelona at home to see off the Spanish giants 5-2 over two legs from the tournament.
The English champions defeated their German opponents 2-0 nearly three weeks ago in Budapest, then returned to the Hungary capital Wednesday for their second-leg game, Xinhua news reports.
They wasted several chances before finally opening the scoring in the 70th minute as Mohamed Salah collected Diogo Jota’s pass to hit the bottom corner. Four minutes later, Sadio Mane added a second for the Reds from close range.
After suffering their sixth straight home defeat Sunday, Liverpool are only eighth with 10 matches to go in the Premier League. The draw for the quarter-final will take place on Friday.
At the Parc des Princes in Paris, French star Kylian Mbappe put hosts PSG ahead with a 30th-minute penalty, but Lionel Messi equalised with a stunning long-distance strike seven minutes later.
However, it was far from enough for the visitors as they still kept a three-goal deficit from the 4-1 loss in the first leg. Barcelona failed to reach the last eight of the Champions League for the first time since the 2006-2007 season.
IANS
