(Football news) Liverpool won Group E and avoided the knockout stages of the playoffs, but Brian Priske’s team had to stage an incredible comeback against Galatasaray, the Champions League losers.

Sparta Prague was no stranger to two-leg victories in the 2023–24 Europa League; they had to overcome Copenhagen in the preliminary Champions League stages and Dinamo Zagreb in the final Europa League qualifying round in order to advance to the group stage.

Rangers, Sparta, and Real Betis were all within two points of each other in Group C. The Czech Fortuna Liga champions had to settle for a runners-up spot, but it only meant they would have to face Galatasaray, who had just won four points from their two Champions League matches against Manchester United. 

Priske’s men did not enjoy a memorable stopover in Turkey as they were bested 3-2 in the first leg, but with the reverse fixture tied at 1-1, a remarkable 20-minute flurry saw Sparta Prague make the net bulge on three occasions to seal a thrilling 4-1 win on the night and a 6-4 aggregate success.

Now bidding to reach the Europa League quarter-finals for just the second time under its current name – their 2015-16 run ended at the hands of Villarreal in the last eight – Priske’s side host Liverpool on the back of consecutive meetings with bitter foes Slavia Prague, whom they beat in extra time in the Czech Cup before a 0-0 draw in league action.

That drab stalemate was enough to keep the reigning champions four points clear at the top of the Fortuna Liga standings, and not since their Champions League qualifying exit to Copenhagen in August have they been put to the sword at epet Arena, going unbeaten in 15 home games since then.

The Maroons have triumphed in just one of Sparta’s previous sixteen European meetings with English sides, though, and Liverpool travels to the Czech Republic having already broken their road curse this month—albeit in extremely heated conditions at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground.

Thanks to the latest winning goal in the competition, scored by Darwin Nunez in the 99th minute, Jurgen Klopp’s team secured their first-ever Premier League victory away to the Tricky Trees, taking advantage of an incorrect drop-ball decision as per the rules of the game. This victory kept them in control of their quadruple destiny.

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