'The perfect send-off for Kiev' - the press on CL qualification

Goals from Mohamed Salah, Dejan Lovren, Dominic Solanke and Andy Robertson saw the Reds safely into the Premier League top four.

Here is what the media made of the performance…

Chris Bascombe, Telegraph

In many respects the season ended as it had proceeded since August for Liverpool. Mohamed Salah scored, Roberto Firmino hassled opposition defenders into submission and the chant acclaiming Scottish left-back Andy Robertson matched all others. This has been an Anfield campaign where global superstars and cult heroes have emerged, hailed with equilibrium by The Kop. Any Real Madrid scouts present and scribbling notes would have registered nothing new about the style, zeal and ambition of this Liverpool side, but they will have identified what difference a seven-day rest does to them. The bloodhounds were let loose on Brighton. The Spanish observers' most positive assessment ahead of the Champions League final is it is on neutral territory. Liverpool would fancy anyone here. Only once previously in the last 30 years has the club gone a full season without a home league defeat. When Salah struck the first on 26 minutes to puncture limited Brighton resistance, there was no possibility of a stumble on the last lap.

James Pearce, Liverpool Echo

This was the perfect send-off for Kiev. Liverpool will approach their date with destiny in the Ukrainian capital with thunderous applause ringing in their ears after a triumphant afternoon at Anfield. Champions League qualification was wrapped up in style as Brighton were ruthlessly put to the sword. There was no final day drama here, just serene progress. Now the mission is to write one more glorious chapter in this thrilling campaign by finding a way past Real Madrid and sealing the club's sixth European crown. Pride was the overriding emotion as Jurgen Klopp led his players on the traditional lap of appreciation. Whatever happens in Kiev, 2017-18 will go down as a campaign to cherish. It was the year when Klopp took Liverpool to the next level playing a breathtaking brand of attacking football. Their tally of 134 goals in all competitions has only been bettered once in the club's 126-year history. How fitting that Mohamed Salah, accompanied by his young daughter Makka, was presented with his glut of individual accolades by Kenny Dalglish on the field after the final whistle. Here were the Kings of the Kop past and present. Having already landed the PFA Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year double, Salah secured the Premier League Golden Boot on another record-breaking afternoon. His 32nd league goal set a new best over a 38-game season as he eclipsed the achievements of Cristiano Ronaldo, Alan Shearer and Luis Suarez. Salah truly is in a class of his own. Dalglish's debut season at Liverpool ended with him getting the winner in the European Cup final 40 years ago and the hope is that Salah will follow in his footsteps. The Egyptian winger, who boasts 44 goals in all competitions, has delivered nine months of awe-inspiring brilliance since his arrival from Roma, but this has been far from a one-man band. Klopp has assembled the most potent front three in European football and created a system which has enabled them to flourish. At the other end of the field the level of improvement has been almost as impressive. Liverpool's total of 17 Premier League clean sheets is their highest since Rafa Benitez's reign. The label that the Reds are great going forward but shoddy defensively is a lazy one.

Neil Jones, Goal.com

As Sundays go, this was close to perfect. Liverpool booked their place in next season's Champions League in style. The sun shone, the goals returned, Mo Salah broke another record. Rafa Benitez did his bit and Dominic Solanke scored, clinically. So did Andy Robertson. The Kop sung. The relief washed over Anfield like a cool summer breeze. Job done. Now for Kiev. Klopp can take pride in the way his team approached this potential banana-skin. Liverpool's hunger and mentality, he says, is beyond question, and his players backed those words up here. Confident, alert, aggressive and ready to work and to play, they had too much for a Brighton side whose goal had been achieved nine days ago. Liverpool's team for the final picks itself at the moment, so it was reassuring to see so many of those starters looking sharp. Brighton may not have offered much by way of resistance, but a football match is as easy as you make it. Liverpool made this very, very easy. There was authority from Virgil van Dijk - what a huge role he and Dejan Lovren will have in Kiev - and improvement from Trent Alexander-Arnold ahead of the biggest night of his life. Robertson enjoyed his first Reds goal in his 29th appearance, while Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum were full of presence in midfield. Klopp will also have been heartened by the sight of Solanke breaking his own Liverpool duck, after 27 appearances and 670 minutes. The England international's finish was that of a confident man, while there was an encouraging late cameo from Adam Lallana too - returning from injury at just the right time perhaps? Liverpool will need options in Kiev.

Andy Hunter, Guardian

Liverpool left it typically late to seal Champions League qualification but their farewell to an uplifting Premier League season and warm-up for Real Madrid was otherwise faultless. Mohamed Salah began an emphatic defeat of Brighton with a record 32nd goal of the league campaign and another Kop favourite, Andy Robertson, closed it with his first for the club. Anfield absorbed the exhibition in between. Salah has not been the only Liverpool player to deliver consistently when it mattered. Klopp's team qualified for the Champions League for a second season running with an unbeaten home record. This sunny Sunday-afternoon stroll against Chris Hughton's side was also the 14th occasion that Liverpool scored four or more goals in a game. Only once, in 1895-96, has that record been bettered. Brighton, survival ensured and their own season a success, tried to deliver a contest but were outclassed to such an extent that their neat passing game was confined to their own penalty area. They had nowhere else to go. Liverpool laid siege to Matthew Ryan's goal from the start with Klopp picking Dominic Solanke on top of his imperious front three and seeing his team take complete control. Only poor finishing, overelaboration and Kevin Friend's aversion to giving penalties delayed the inevitable. Salah broke the Premier League scoring record when Trent Alexander-Arnold drove through the Brighton midfield and found Solanke on the edge of the area. The striker turned the ball on to Salah, who needed one touch to create space for a low left-foot finish. It was his 44th goal in total this season. A hat-trick against Real Madrid on May 26 will be required to equal Ian Rush's all-time Liverpool record.

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.