'It should have been 10-0!' - Dominik Szoboszlai reveals Liverpool wanted revenge against Galatasaray after Turkish side's premature celebrations

Arne Slot’s men overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit with a clinical display that saw goals from Szoboszlai, Hugo Ekitike, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah. The Reds were dominant from the first whistle, with Alexis Mac Allister orchestrating the midfield to ensure the Turkish giants never had a sniff of a repeat upset.

The intensity on display was no accident, as the Liverpool dressing room had spent the week stewing over the aftermath of their defeat in Turkey. Szoboszlai opened the scoring with a crisp strike from the edge of the area, setting the tone for a night where the visitors were completely overwhelmed by the atmosphere and the hosts' aggression.

Speaking after the match, Szoboszlai explained that the seeds for the comeback were sown in the tunnels of the RAMS Park last week. The midfielder noted that the exuberant celebrations from the Galatasaray players while he was conducting post-match media duties served as the perfect bulletin-board material for the return leg.

"From the first minute, we were on that," the midfielder told TNT Sports. "Last game, during I was giving an interview, I heard them celebrating. I speak with a couple of guys in Turkey and this is usual after games you celebrate, there doesn't matter if there's a second leg and I took a little personally, you know, and I think a couple of us did as well. I'm still in the mind, you never celebrate too early. Maybe they didn't mean it but that gave us a little push and I think from the first second, it was just all in."

Despite the four-goal difference, the scoreline doesn't reflect the Reds' true performance. Liverpool's relentless pressure also often failed to yield goals, including Salah's penalty which was saved by Galatasaray goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir, and Ekitike believes they could have easily reached double figures if they had been more efficient.

"We deserve to be here, so we're really happy," the Frenchman stated, as quoted by The Mirror. "We did a really good job tonight, we could have won 10-0, so we can look forward to the quarter-final. We made a few changes at half-time and then when I took my chance we felt more free. Everybody did a great job and ran for each other."

The victory sets up a high-stakes quarter-final date with reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain. It is a repeat of last season’s knockout clash, which saw the French giants progress on penalties after a tightly contested 1-1 draw on aggregate. The Reds will be hoping to carry their clinical European form into that tie. However, before going there, they will first face Brighton in the Premier League and Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals.