Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp gave the returning Mohamed Salah some incredibly rare in-game instructions during their emphatic 6-1 victory over Sparta Prague.
The Reds secured their place in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday night with another heavy win.
After winning the first leg in Prague 5-1, they managed to go one better as goals from Darwin Nunez, Bobby Clark, Cody Gakpo [2], Dominik Szoboszlai and Salah sealed an 11-2 aggregate victory.
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Salah, who is the first Liverpool player in history to score at least 20 goals in seven successive seasons, was making his first start for the club since New Year's Day.
As a result of his injury problems, Jurgen Klopp was planning on substituting Salah with around 20 minutes left but Bobby Clark picked up an ankle injury, meaning the Egyptian had to stay on.
Salah went on to play an unprecedented 90 minutes; a decision that Klopp explained in his post-match interview.
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In fact, the German manager revealed that he told Mohamed Salah to "stop defending" – a first for the Liverpool boss.
“Mo is a special story, it was not the plan that he plays 90 minutes, the plan was to take him off when we brought on Mateusz but Bobby sat in front of me and it was clear Bobby had to go off," Klopp told reporters.
"I told him if he had to stay on - I think it was the first time I have told any player 'just stop defending', that's how it is, just don't run in that direction anymore. He is very experienced, he got easily over the line."
As mentioned earlier, Salah is the first Liverpool player in history to score at least 20 goals in seven successive seasons, and that information was relayed to Klopp in his post-match interview.
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"The stat is not really surprising, because he is an outstanding player," Klopp beamed.
“I’m less surprised than maybe some others, I thought it had already happened to be honest but he was injured for a while, otherwise he would have done it in January or February. But great, very good, and great to have him back."
Klopp added: “In seven years together with him, the one problem we never had was consistency. Mo is just delivering and delivering and delivering, his desire doesn’t stop, his quality is there and his desire to score doesn’t stop.
"He has improved in so many aspects since he started here. That’s how it is, he will not stop.”
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Liverpool will need Salah's qualities in the coming weeks as they challenge for silverware. They come up against Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.
Featured Image Credit: TNT Sports - Getty ImagesTopics: Liverpool, Europa League, Mohamed Salah, Jurgen Klopp
