Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp hailed Thiago Alcantara’s “thunderball” goal, which set them on their way to a 2-0 victory over Porto and a fifth successive Champions League win.
The Spain international broke the deadlock with a delicious, low, 25-metre half-volley that was later added to by Mohamed Salah’s sixth European goal of the season.
It was only the second time Thiago has found the net during a disrupted 14 months since arriving in a £20 million ($26.6m) move from Bayern Munich. But it was a strike worthy of the wait.
“We had bigger chances in the game but we scored with that situation,” Klopp said of his midfielder’s 52nd-minute opener.
“Whoever sees Thiago in training knows he has the technique to do it, but even with this technique it doesn’t happen constantly that he can fire such a thunderball. It was good timing, a great goal.
“We needed some luck in moments. They came through and had big chances counter-attacking, which were tricky to defend, but they didn’t score and we scored twice and controlled the game in the second half much better.”
Despite nothing riding on the game for Liverpool, who had already qualified for the last 16, Klopp named a stronger-than-expected side with just four changes from Saturday’s win over Arsenal.
But the night worked out perfectly as he was able to manage his squad.
“We had a lot of things to think about: who came back from injury, who played a lot of games, who needs resting,” Klopp said.
“For this game, no one felt like they needed a rest, it is just the amount of games coming up so we need them all in kind of a rhythm, so that is why the line-up made real sense.
“It worked out really well because no one got injured, so everything is good.”
Liverpool have made a mockery of their "Group of Death", with their 15-point haul a club record for the group stage.
But Klopp said now was not the time to assess just how well they were playing.
“We could have lost this game tonight," he said. "We gave chances away when they could have scored so we should not make too much of it as we were lucky in moments.
“We had moments when we were not cool to play against. I didn’t expect that tonight because we changed decisive things, to be honest.
“We didn’t expect the boys to be a pressing machine immediately but to grow into the game, and that’s what happened.
“A lot of good things happened tonight but I’m not sure we should make the mistake of saying we are this or that again.
“We will know at the end of the season – but we are in a good moment and we should try everything to keep that going.”
Porto coach Sergio Conceicao was left to rue a number of missed chances.
“I think it was an unfortunate game for us for what we prepared the players for,” Conceicao said.
“We created more than enough opportunities to be winning in the first half. We had three or four with which we should have been more efficient.”
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Sub Regional Qualifier
Event info: The tournament in Kuwait this month is the first phase of the qualifying process for sides from Asia for the 2020 World T20 in Australia. The UAE must finish within the top three teams out of the six at the competition to advance to the Asia regional finals. Success at regional finals would mean progression to the World T20 Qualifier.
UAE’s fixtures: Fri Apr 20, UAE v Qatar; Sat Apr 21, UAE v Saudi Arabia; Mon Apr 23, UAE v Bahrain; Tue Apr 24, UAE v Maldives; Thu Apr 26, UAE v Kuwait
World T20 2020 Qualifying process:
- Sixteen teams will play at the World T20 in two years’ time.
- Australia have already qualified as hosts
- Nine places are available to the top nine ranked sides in the ICC’s T20i standings, not including Australia, on Dec 31, 2018.
- The final six teams will be decided by a 14-team World T20 Qualifier.
World T20 standings: 1 Pakistan; 2 Australia; 3 India; 4 New Zealand; 5 England; 6 South Africa; 7 West Indies; 8 Sri Lanka; 9 Afghanistan; 10 Bangladesh; 11 Scotland; 12 Zimbabwe; 13 UAE; 14 Netherlands; 15 Hong Kong; 16 Papua New Guinea; 17 Oman; 18 Ireland
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2018 Jeep Compass
Price, base: Dh100,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.4L four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 184bhp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 237Nm at 3,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.4L / 100km
Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
The years Ramadan fell in May
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
