Mohamed Salah wants more from Liverpool after reaching 'incredible' milestone in win over Lille in UEFA Champions League

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Liverpool confirmed their passage through to the UEFA Champions League last 16 with a 2-1 win over Lille on Tuesday night. Mohamed Salah again took the headlines after scoring his 50th European goal for the club, a milestone he described as "incredible". Arne Slot reserved praise for his "special" forward, although Salah claimed Liverpool have done "nothing" yet this season.

Highlights: Seventh heaven for Slot and co as Liverpool qualify for the last 16

Video credit: TNT Sports

Mohamed Salah insisted there is more work to do for Liverpool after his 50th European goal for the club helped them confirm qualification for the UEFA Champions League last 16.

Salah raced clear and finished clinically to net his 22nd goal of the season in all competitions and send Liverpool on the way to a 2-1 victory over Lille at Anfield.

He acknowledged that reaching the landmark of 50 goals in Europe was "incredible", but highlighted the need to build on an impressive first half of the season.

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Asked if Liverpool are currently the best team in the Champions League, Salah said: "I would say we are one of the best.

"The way we play, we help each other and have a very good game plan, but this is nothing. [It is] still in January so we need to carry on like this until the end of the season."

On netting 50 times for Liverpool in continental football, he said: "It's something I'm very proud of and it comes with a win, so that's great.

"It's something incredible to be the first player to achieve that. I worked so hard for that and glad I achieved it."

Liverpool remained top of the league phase with victory over Lille, although it is not yet clear who they might face in the last 16.

"It's quite tricky because we don't know who we're going to face," Salah added. "We could face a really strong team so we're looking forward to that. We're excited about the win and see what happens next."

Slot: Salah is 'special'

Reds boss Arne Slot was effusive in his praise of Salah.

"Special is the word that describes Mo's performances at this club," the Dutchman said in his post-match press conference.

"Maybe there are better words to use, but he's been outstanding for this club. Today, great goal – when Mo goes one on one there's a serious chance he'll score.

"This goal probably tells you a lot about why we are top of the league, because the work-rate from the players to win the ball back before Curtis [Jones] played the pass to Mo shows you why we are doing so well."

Slot also gave his verdict on the new Champions League format and whether winning the league phase could prove to be a significant advantage.

"In tennis if you are No. 1 seed you know it's better [to] face the No. 24 than the No. 8 or the No. 12," he said. "This is a ranking that is done for years.

"But now we are in a new format where some teams are high in the league table because they had a lucky draw or some teams are low because they had a difficult draw.

"It's far off to say it's an advantage to be No. 1 or 2, we don't know yet. Ending up eighth could mean that you are maybe lucky.

"For me, the most important thing tonight is that we managed to skip a round."

Liverpool's final league phase match is against PSV on January 29 – live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

TNT Sports will show over 500 matches from the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League across the 2024-25 season. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination.

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