Liverpool trounced Sparta Prague to record a 11-2 aggregate victory.
Darwin Nunez opened the scoring on seven minutes, sweeping home in the penalty area from Dominik Szoboszlai’s delivery from the righthand side.
The Reds doubled their lead just a minute later as Bobby Clark opened his account with a tidy finish after Mohamed Salah had won possession back.
Salah would add his name to the score sheet barely two minutes later as Clark teed him up for a sublime strike from the edge of the penalty area.
Jurgen Klopp’s side continued to rack up the goals in the 14th minute as Cody Gakpo met Salah’s cutback with a ruthless close-range finish.
But the visitors pulled back a consolation later in the first half through Veljko Birmancevic latching onto a through ball and firing past Caoimhin Kelleher.
Dominik Szoboszlai restored the hosts’ four-goal margin early in the second half with a strike which took a deflection off Sparta captain Ladislav Krejjci.
Substitute Harvey Elliott set the wheels in motion for a sixth as his long-range drive was helped home by Gakpo’s heel flick for his second goal of the night.
Here were the key talking points from Anfield:
Ruthless Reds deliver a massacre
Even a 5-1 aggregate lead did not dissuade Jurgen Klopp from maintaining Liverpool’s battle rhythm ahead of a Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final clash.
Much as the German would like to blood more youngsters while defending such a handsome first-leg margin, the bigger picture remains key for his side.
With a handful of exceptions, Klopp sent out his strongest possible line-up against Sparta Prague and the pay-off was an unprecedented onslaught.
Four goals in seven minutes left the Reds teetering on a double-figured haul across the two legs after the opening quarter of an hour on Thursday night.
By that point, Kopites were already gleefully chanting ‘Show them the way to go home’; the ritual call whenever an opponent is already on the canvas.
Relentless and ruthless, the visitors were offered no sympathy in a tie that had been rendered all but over by last week’s first leg in the Czech Republic.
If Anfield witnessed a robbery with last weekend’s controversial penalty decision against Manchester City, it was repaid with this total massacre.
Salah returns as a record breaker
In hindsight, Mohamed Salah’s first start since New Year’s Day dismantling of Newcastle appeared to be a foreshadowing of what lay in store for Sparta.
Despite their continued ability to fight on multiple fronts in his absence, Liverpool have lacked the spark which their Egyptian talisman often ignites.
Back in the starting XI, however, Salah made up for lost time by racking up a goal and three assists before the Czech First League leaders even warmed up.
In doing so, the 31-year-old set a new record by becoming the first player in Anfield’s steeped history to record 20 goals in seven consecutive season.
Not even Ian Rush, the player against whom his feats are so often measured, could achieve such lofty heights at the peak of his own goal-scoring exploits.
The legendary Welshman mustered it over six successive campaigns and stood alone in that achievement prior to Salah’s continued exploits last term.
His latest successor to The Kop’s throne now stands unparalleled and, the way things are going, will break more records before he finally bows out.
Not all Klopp solutions are perfect
By Klopp’s admission, his side are having to make do and mend at present.
An unforgiving injury crisis has seen the Liverpool manager trial unorthodox methods, most notably thrusting the club’s academy crop into the spotlight.
But not all solutions are perfect, as typified by Andy Robertson’s deployment as an auxiliary centre-back for the entirety of the second half against Sparta.
The Scotland captain’s defensive duties have never been in doubt and the task of holding his position appeared a simple undertaking, on paper at least.
For the best part, his remit remained unchanged with the hosts continuing to comfortably dominate proceedings at the opposite end of the Anfield pitch.
Yet there was one moment where Robertson almost found himself caught cold when attempting to snuff out Sparta’s resolute threat on the counter.
A sliding tackle from the flying full-back proved enough to ward off that threat and he appeared noticeably more assured after Virgil van Dijk’s introduction.
Robertson’s long-term prospects may still lie at the heart of defence in time but it will be a work in progress based on this, admittedly brief, showing.