Liverpool's Darwin Nunez in action against Sparta Prague at the epet ARENA, in Prague, on March 7.Eva Korinkova/Reuters
Darwin Nunez scored twice to help Liverpool rout Sparta 5-1 and take a big step closer to the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday.
Nunez’s right-footed shot from 25 metres flew past goalkeeper Peter Vindahl to double Liverpool’s early lead after Alexis Mac Allister’s penalty in Prague in the first leg of the round of 16.
The Uruguay international’s first strike of the evening was the 1,000th Liverpool goal scored under manager Jurgen Klopp, whose team will host the second leg next week at Anfield.
Next for Liverpool is a seismic meeting at Anfield against Manchester City on Sunday.
In a positive sign for the Reds, Mohamed Salah returned from injury as a substitute in the 74th minute.
Bundesliga leader Bayer Leverkusen made a long trip to Baku and needed a stoppage-time equalizer to draw 2-2 with Qarabag and extend their German record unbeaten run to 35 games across all competitions this season.
The teams also met in the group stage – Leverkusen won 5-1 at home and 1-0 in Baku.
In the third-tier competition, Aston Villa held Ajax 0-0 in Amsterdam. Both teams finished the game with 10 men after Ajax midfielder Tristan Gooijer and Villa defender Ezri Konsa received their second yellow card in the last 10 minutes.
Lille relied on two goals from Canadian striker Jonathan David en route to a 3-0 victory at Sturm Graz.
Maccabi Tel Aviv also recorded a comprehensive 4-1 victory at Olympiacos and Norway’s Molde beat Club Brugge 2-1.
Leverkusen returns to Germany ahead of a potentially tricky Bundesliga game against Wolfsburg on Sunday.
Roma’s renaissance under coach Daniele De Rossi continued with a 4-0 thumping of Brighton at Stadio Olimpico.