Liverpool warmed up for Sunday's title showdown with Manchester City by all but securing their place in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals with a thumping 5-1 last-16 first leg win at Sparta Prague.
On a night where Mohamed Salah made his first Liverpool appearance since 17 February, an Alexis Mac Allister penalty plus two goals from Darwin Nunez and one each for Luis Diaz and substitute Dominik Szoboszlai, secured a seventh consecutive win for Jurgen Klopp's side.
There was no such joy for Brighton & Hove Albion, however, whose first ever European campaign is teetering on the brink after crashing to a 4-0 defeat at AS Roma.
West Ham United will need to come from behind if they are to progress to the quarter-finals having slipped to a narrow 1-0 loss against Bundesliga side Freiburg.
In the Europa Conference League, Aston Villa also have it all to play for in their last-16 second leg tie at Villa Park on Thursday 14 March after holding Dutch giants Ajax to a 0-0 draw in Amsterdam.
Sparta Prague 1-5 Liverpool
Klopp brought Nunez back into the team following his dramatic goalscoring exploits at Nottingham Forest, while Wataru Endo and Jarell Quansah also started.
Liverpool took only six minutes to go 1-0 up when Mac Allister slotted home from the penalty spot after he had been fouled by Asger Sorensen.
Caoimhin Kelleher made a couple of crucial saves, including a shot from Lukas Haraslin that Joe Gomez hooked off the line, but once Harvey Elliott set up Nunez to double the Reds' tally with a fine dipping finish - their 1,000th goal under Klopp - Liverpool took control.
Nunez made it 3-0 in first-half added time with a fierce strike from the edge of the penalty area for his 16th goal in all competitions this season.
Liverpool beat Sparta Prague 5-1 away in Europa League last-16 first leg
Although Sparta Prague reduced the deficit on 46 minutes when Liverpool substitute Conor Bradley turned the ball into his own net with his first touch, Elliott set up Luis Diaz to restore their three-goal cushion with a deflected finish seven minutes later.
Salah entered the action with 14 minutes remaining, and thought he had added a fifth goal, but his effort was ruled out for offside.
Szoboszlai put the seal on an impressive win with virtually the last kick of the game from another Elliott pass - the first time he had produced three assists in the same match for Liverpool.
There were a couple of possible injury concerns, however, as defender Ibrahima Konate was replaced soon after receiving treatment in the second half. Klopp confirmed afterwards that this was a "precautionary" measure, while Gomez only played the first 45 minutes, perhaps also with a nod to Sunday's huge Premier League match against second-placed Man City at Anfield.
Roma 4-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi made sweeping changes to the side beaten 3-0 at Fulham last time out. Simon Adingra, Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck were among six players who returned to the Seagulls' starting XI.
It proved to be an uncomfortable night for Brighton, and they went behind to an early goal from Paulo Dybala.
Although Adingra's deflected cross hit the woodwork, Roma added a second on the stroke of half-time when former Chelsea and Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku pounced on an error by Lewis Dunk to make it 2-0.
Two goals in four second-half minutes from Gianluca Mancini, with a close-range finish, and a Bryan Cristante header completed the scoring. Brighton's defeat was the heaviest suffered by an English side in Europe since October 2019, when Tottenham Hotspur were beaten 7-2 by Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League.
The Seagulls will be looking to bounce back from Thursday night's setback when they return to Premier League action at home to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Freiburg 1-0 West Ham
David Moyes brought in goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski for their last-16 first-leg tie against Freiburg, the only change made by West Ham from the side that beat Everton 3-1 last Saturday.
Lucas Paqueta's goalbound shot was brilliantly blocked by Ritsu Doan and Konstantinos Mavropanos hit the post with a header from James Ward-Prowse's delivery as West Ham created the clearest chances in a tightly-fought contest.
But it was Freiburg, twice beaten by the Hammers in this season's group stage, who scored the only goal of the tie with nine minutes remaining when substitute Michael Gregoritsch tapped home Roland Sallai's mishit shot.
West Ham's Emerson was forced off with what appeared to be a knock, and the defender will hope to be available when Moyes's side return to Premier League action at home to Burnley on Sunday.
Hammers fall to first leg defeat in Germany
Ajax 0-0 Aston Villa
Facing a crucial Premier League match at home to top-four rivals Spurs this Sunday, Unai Emery made half a dozen changes to the side that beat Luton Town 3-2 last time out.
Morgan Rogers was handed his European debut and youngster Tim Iroegbunam made only his second start for Villa. Ajax featured former Liverpool star Jordan Henderson in their starting XI.
The match at Johan Cruyff Arena offered little in terms of clear goalscoring opportunities, but when he was called into action, Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez produced an outstanding save to keep out Kenneth Taylor's left-footed strike midway through the second half.
Both sides finished the match with 10 men after Villa's Ezri Konsa was sent off after 83 minutes for a second bookable offence, before Ajax defender Tristan Gooijer was then shown a second yellow card shortly afterwards.
Emery's team will be boosted going into a finely poised second-leg tie knowing that Ajax failed to win any of their three away matches in the Europa League this season before they dropped down into the Conference League.
