Liverpool has the chance to automatically qualify for the 16th round after defeating Marseille

Liverpool player Jeremie Frimpong celebrates Marseille player's own goal in the Champions League match. Liverpool won 3-0 in the away game. (X/@LFC)

JAKARTA - Liverpool opened the opportunity to qualify automatically for the 16th round of the Champions League after defeating Marseille 3-0 in a match at the Stade Velodrome, Marseille, Thursday, January 22, 2026 early morning WIB.

Liverpool won big when facing European elite teams in the Champions League. Previously, they had beaten German Bundesliga team Eintracht Frankfurt with the same score.

Now, Arne Slot's team is showing their maximum ability by defeating Marseille playing at home. Midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai opened the Reds' victory with a brilliant free kick. Next, Geronimo Rulli's own goal solidified Liverpool's lead and finally Cody Gakpo sealed the victory for the English Premier League champions.

Liverpool also recorded a record of never losing during 13 matches in various competitions. The best record among teams in the top European leagues. The victory also brought Liverpool up to fourth place with 15 points.

It's just that even though they are in the top eight and have the chance to qualify automatically, Liverpool are still on alert because they are only two points ahead of Barcelona who are in ninth place.

The last match against Qarabag which was held at Anfield will be the decisive match for Liverpool. However, Virgil van Dijk et al are predicted to have no trouble overcoming their rivals and can qualify without having to go through the playoff round.

"This victory is very important because we were forced to defend the same players after some of them suffered injuries. That's why our energy was drained in a number of matches that resulted in our goal being conceded," said Slot.

"I see that Virgil has never had more than three days of rest. The same goes for Ryan (Gravenberch) and other players. But they are trying to show their best performance," said the former Feyenoord coach, who called Marseille an opponent who is not easy and is handled by a quality coach Roberto De Zerbi.

"The match against Marseille is not easy because their fans are passionate and enthusiastic. They also have quality players. That makes the match more difficult because they have a quality manager," he said.

Marseille, who failed to add points, is still in the playoff zone with a ranking of 19. With nine points, Marseille must maintain their position by defeating Club Brugge in the last match of the European competition.

The reason is that the French Ligue 1 club is only one point ahead of the teams outside the ninth to 24th or playoff zone such as Napoli and Copenhagen who want to qualify for the next round.

Mohamed Salah Back in Action

In that match, Liverpool again brought in Mohamed Salah who was absent for a month because he strengthened Egypt in the African Cup. Salah, who had a quarrel internally and indirectly criticized Slot for no longer being the first choice, was finally played as a starter.

"This shows how he is a very professional figure. After playing with different teams for more than a month, he is still fit to play for 90 minutes of the match even though he has only had one training session with them," Slot said in praise of Salah.

"Even he almost scored a goal. It should have been a goal because he did it. But it didn't bother the game because we scored three goals," he said.

Even though he lowered the squad, which included a complete squad with Salah as a starter along with Florian Wirtz and Szoboszlai supporting the centre forward Hugo Ekitike, Liverpool was still able to dominate. Ekitike, who greeted Szoboszlai's cross, managed to break Marseille's goal in the 23rd minute. Only, the goal was annulled because he was in an offside position.

Szoboszlai himself finally broke the deadlock after scoring a beautiful free kick in the 45+1 minute. Liverpool got a free kick after the referee initially pointed to the white spot following Leonardo Balerdi's foul on Gravenberch.

However, after reviewing the incident via VAR, the referee judged that the incident occurred outside the penalty area so that the penalty decision was canceled and replaced with a free kick.

However, Szoboszlai managed to take advantage of the set piece opportunity to bring The Pool ahead 1-0. The score closed the first half.

Entering the second half, Liverpool completely dominated. They played aggressively and did not give the opponent a chance to develop. Only, Liverpool could only add a goal in the 72nd minute. That was Rulli's own goal who anticipated Jeremie Frimpong's cross. The goal gave Liverpool a 2-0 lead.

Furthermore, Gakpo cemented Liverpool's victory in injury time. The Dutch national team player greeted an assist from Gravenberch to bring Liverpool to a 3-0 win in the 90+3 minute. The score remained until the end of the match.