Liverpool coasted past Marseille to put themselves in a strong position to finish in the Champions League top eight on a night where Mohamed Salah returned to the starting XI for Arne Slot's side.

A moment of genius from Dominik Szoboszlai gave Liverpool the lead in the first half, an own goal from goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli doubled their advantage and Cody Gakpo added a third in the 92nd minute.

The three points took Liverpool up to fourth in the Champions League standings and they host Qarabag at Anfield next week as they look to remain in the top eight, thereby avoiding the play-offs.

After a strong opening for the Reds, it was Szoboszlai who broke the deadlock in first-half injury-time as he smartly rolled a free-kick under the Marseille wall and beat Rulli.

In the 72nd minute Jeremie Frimpong used his pace effectively to get to the byeline and his cutback took a deflection before nicking off Rulli and dribbling in.

Gakpo came off the bench to score with the last kick of the game, curling a low effort into the far corner.

With Ibrahima Konate out because of a family matter Joe Gomez started at centre-back alongside Virgil van Dijk, who made his 350th appearance for the club.

Marseille rarely threatened in the first half but Roberto De Zerbi's side raced out of the blocks after the break, with Alisson denying Mason Greenwood before the Englishman teed up Hamed Traore, who skyed over when he should have tested the goalkeeper.

But Liverpool impressively kept out the most prolific side in Ligue 1 and extended their unbeaten run to 13 games with a solid European away performance.

Pre-match, De Zerbi had called on his Marseille players to "honour" the Stade Velodrome and the stadium was packed to the rafters well before kick-off.

The Marseille fans unveiled an eye-catching Beatles tifo before the game which read "Que l'histoire repete", translating to "History repeats itself".

That was in reference to the time these two sides met here in 2004, when Didier Drogba scored as Marseille knocked Liverpool out of the Uefa Cup.

A different kind of history repeated itself though as Liverpool won in Marseille in the Champions League, just like they did in 2007 and 2008.

Liverpool analysis: A superb all-round performance

As expected Salah made his first start for Liverpool since November after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations as Slot started a 4-2-2-2 with Florian Wirtz and Szoboszlai behind Hugo Ekitike and Salah.

From the outset Liverpool were impressive, with Frimpong and Milos Kerkez offering plenty of width.

Slot's side created a few openings in the first half but perhaps lacked that bit of quality in the final third until Szoboszlai broke the deadlock.

As Marseille opened up Liverpool had plenty more chances and should arguably have doubled their lead well before the own goal, with Ekitike hitting the crossbar and Wirtz seeing an effort saved.

Salah missed a glorious opportunity late on and has not scored in his last seven for his club, but his all-round display showed exactly why Slot was so happy to have Liverpool's record Champions League goalscorer back. Now the key is to push on.

For Slot, who has good memories in Marseille having seen his Feyenoord side qualify for the Europa Conference League final here in 2022, this was a night where the performance was perhaps even more important than the result.

His team were superb and made light work of a Marseille side that have impressed under De Zerbi this season.

Just like at Inter Milan last month, this was another night to remember for the 3,300-strong travelling support. (BBC)

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