Liverpool confirmed their place in the Champions League knockout stages in low-key fashion on Tuesday evening. A 2-1 win over 10-man Lille was sufficient to earn a top two-place with the Reds needing only a point at PSV Eindhoven next week to seal first place in the table.

Substitute Harvey Elliott scored a deflected winner midway through the second half shortly after Jonathan David had equalised Mohamed Salah's first-half opener.

It made for a satisfying evening at Anfield. And while the ECHO was in attendance and provided our usual level of coverage, here's how the national media viewed another strong result for Slot's side.

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Writing in The Times, Paul Joyce - formerly of this parish - noted how matters have become routine in Europe for the Reds this season.

"Arne Slot should regard the lack of fanfare as yet another compliment," he pens. "Safe passage into the last 16 of the Champions League has long since been a case of when, not if, but it says much about the impact of Liverpool’s head coach that milestones are being reached with barely an eyebrow raised.

"Progress has not always seemed so routine in these parts. Anfield offered rich applause after victory over Lille but in a manner that suggested all the excitement lies in what the home fans’ heroes may achieve on the Continent in the coming months.

"The guarantee of finishing top of the new 36-team format was delayed by Barcelona’s barnstorming comeback away to Benfica, but that represented only a minor inconvenience for Slot’s side — and one that can be ironed out by avoiding defeat by PSV Eindhoven next Wednesday.

"Still, to be staring down at allcomers is representative of a careful evolution, and few had expected Liverpool to cut a swathe through this competition at the start of the season."

The Guardian's Andy Hunter, another once of these parts, pointed to how standards are being set high by Slot.

"Arne Slot had two minor complaints: that Lille scored from their only shot on target and Liverpool are not guaranteed to win the Champions League group because of Barcelona’s 95th-minute winner at Benfica, where four minutes of stoppage time were signalled," he scribes. "They were the grumblings of a perfectionist.

"Perfectionism is serving Liverpool well, however. Top spot may not be secured just yet but Slot’s side booked a place in the last 16 with a seventh successive victory. It equalled the club’s best sequence in the Champions League era.

"Top of the Champions League group and the Premier League, Liverpool will fear no one in the knockout phase. There was the added bonus of setting a club record for most minutes without conceding in Europe, their 599 surpassing the 572 of Rafael Benítez’s team in 2005-06."

Former ECHO operative Chris Bascombe, now of The Telegraph, focused on the impact of Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool's overall efforts.

"As Arne Slot’s skipper and field marshal celebrated a seventh consecutive Champions League win to confirm his side’s place in the round of 16, it reaffirmed the view that describing Van Dijk merely as the best defender is the understatement of the century," he writes. "Van Dijk is one of the best footballers in the world. Full stop.

"Daring to write that is, of course, contrary to the unwritten laws of the modern game. World-class defensive players – centre-backs, full-backs and holding midfielders – must stay in their lane and be eternally defined by their position.

"Ultimate greatness and all the individual awards that come with it tend to be reserved exclusively for creators and goalscorers. One need only witness the hissy fit by Real Madrid when Vinicius Jr was overlooked for the Ballon d’Or for the equally deserving Rodri, the rare outbreak of charity when voters looked beyond the front line almost causing a diplomatic incident.

"Van Dijk is no less a generational talent because he patrols his own penalty area more than he plunders goals at the other end."

Finally, Lewis Steele of the Daily Mail looked at Salah and the end of his goal drought.

"There had also been a manufactured debate about Salah’s form after the Egyptian had gone three games without a goal or assist," he tippy-taps. "To be fair, after registering 38 in his first 27 games of the season, a fortnight-long drought feels like a full-blown crisis for a player of this standard.

"But tough times never last long for Salah and soon he was back doing what he does best: curling a shot from the right-hand side of the box with his left foot. Curtis Jones deserves credit for splitting open the defence like a hot knife through butter with his ball from deep.

"That was Salah’s 50th European goal for Liverpool – he is already top of that list in the club’s history, nine clear of Steven Gerrard – and it should have been 51 on the stroke of half-time as Lille were again cut open with a long ball, this time from Luis Diaz, but he shot wide."