A night to remember for Liverpool in Prague. Nearly.

The decisive and clinical victory over Sparta Prague secured a spot in the Europa League quarterfinals for Jürgen Klopp’s quadruple-chasing club.Darwin Núñez warmed up for Liverpool’s match against Manchester City at the top of the table with two outstanding goals, including the 1,000th of Klopp’s Liverpool career, while Mohamed Salah returned as a late substitute after missing more than two weeks of action.

It was only Ibrahima Konaté’s limping away from injury that kept Klopp from enjoying the perfect lead-up to Sunday’s match at Anfield. Although Klopp was not able to rest seven regulars in advance of Manchester City’s visit, as Pep Guardiola had done the night before against Copenhagen, the team was still far stronger and more seasoned than Liverpool had been able to pitch recently.

Almost soon, a convincing evening’s work got underway. After five minutes, Sparta keeper Peter Vindahl put center-half Asger Sørensen in danger by making a daring pass on the perimeter of his area that got past the Liverpool press.With a reckless challenge inside the box, the defender sent Alexis Mac Allister tumbling as he pounced quickly and took the ball off Sørensen’s toes. With regular taker Salah on the bench, Spanish referee José María Sánchez Martínez awarded a clear penalty. With regular taker Salah on the bench, Brighton’s former spot-kick specialist calmly sent Vindahl the wrong way with his first Liverpool penalty, which was awarded by Spanish referee José María Sánchez Martínez.