The hunt for a sixth successive win in the competition began brightly for Arne Slot’s side, with Ryan Gravenberch slipping a pass through to Darwin Nunez, who managed to test Paulo Gazzaniga despite a tight angle.
However, it was the home side who were left ruing missed chances, as Daley Blind failed to connect with Miguel Gutierrez’s centre from close range before Bryan Gil and Gutiérrez both saw efforts saved by the returning Alisson.
The high tempo of the game showed no sign of slowing late in the half, as Nunez had another effort saved either side of Gravenberch getting a vital block on an Alejandro Francés strike and Yáser Asprilla taking aim from 20 yards to force Alisson into a fine stop, with Girona bearing little resemblance to the side that were winless in their previous four outings.
Looking to keep their ambitions of a top 24 place in their own hands, Míchel’s men made a lively start to the second half, too, as Arnaut Danjuma intercepted a pass, went on a run, and fired straight at Alisson in the first minute.
But the six-time European champions began to assert themselves, and on the hour mark, a scramble inside the home box eventually saw Andy Robertson sting the gloves of Gazzaniga, only for VAR to spot a foul by Donny van de Beek on Luis Diaz in the melee.
Mohamed Salah stepped up to take the resulting penalty, which he swept home for his second strike of the Champions League campaign.
Six of their previous eight away matches had seen both sides score, but Liverpool showed little sign of letting the Blanquivermells back into the contest, not allowing further efforts on their goal, as Trent Alexander-Arnold came close to a late second with a trademark free-kick.
Three more points guarantees they will remain top of the Champions League standings going into the penultimate matchday, while a place in the last 16 could be confirmed tomorrow, depending on other results. Meanwhile, Girona’s failure to score for a third UCL match running leaves them three points behind 24th for the time being.