GOALKEEPER Alisson Becker was labelled a “life saver” by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp for a last-gasp save that secured a 1-0 win over Napoli at Anfield and progress to the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday.

Mohamed Salah’s stunning solo effort put the hosts in front 11 minutes before halftime, but Liverpool players were nearly made to pay for their profligacy in missing a series of second-half chances.

Alisson had barely been tested until the Brazilian number one spread himself brilliantly to deny Arkadiusz Milik a dramatic stoppage-time equalizer and go a long way to justifying the then world-record US$85 million fee for a goalkeeper Liverpool paid Roma in July.

“If I knew Alisson was this good — I would have paid double,” joked Klopp.

“The goal Mo scored, what a goal! And the save Ali made (was) unbelievable. It was of course a life saver tonight.”

Despite losing all three of their away games in Group C, three home wins at fortress Anfield were enough to see Liverpool through to the knockout stage on goals scored over the Italians in second place behind Paris Saint-Germain, which won 4-1 away to Red Star Belgrade to secure top spot.

“I’m still full of adrenaline, I could feel it in bubbles,” added Klopp.

“This game was just amazing. The boys played with their whole heart on the pitch.”

Liverpool’s charge to the Champions League final last season was spearheaded by Salah’s 44-goal season.

And after signalling his return to top form by scoring a hat-trick in a 4-0 win at Bournemouth on Saturday that sent Liverpool to the top of the Premier League, Salah’s 13th goal of the campaign relegated Napoli to the Europa League in the new year despite losing for the first time in Europe this season.

“It’s a real shame our efforts haven’t been rewarded,” said Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti.

“We have no regrets. Overall the group of players have done extremely well, we took it down to the wire.

“You can’t expect to come to Liverpool and create 10 really good chances, we had one or two and didn’t have the luck to take one of them.”

Tottenham is also in Monday’s draw after defying expectations in Barcelona thanks to Lucas Moura’s 85th-minute leveler in a 1-1 draw.

Even with that point, Tottenham still needed Inter Milan to fail to beat winless PSV Eindhoven — and it ended 1-1 in San Siro.

Napoli kicked off Tuesday leading Group C but dropped below Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain, which won 4-1 at Red Star Belgrade to advance in top spot. The four qualifying places in the other two groups playing Tuesday were decided last month.

Still, Borussia Dortmund’s 2-0 win at Monaco meant it rose above Atletico Madrid — which drew 0-0 at Club Brugge — to win Group A. Porto had already clinched Group D’s top spot before winning 3-2 at Galatasaray, and runner-up Schalke beat visiting Lokomotiv Moscow 1-0.

(SD-Agencies)