Liverpool vs Benfica. UEFA Champions League Quarter Final.
AnfieldAttendance51,373.
6-4
Match report as Liverpool show their strength in depth to make it through the Champions League semi-final; Ibrahima Konate and a Roberto Firmino double made it a relatively comfortable night at Anfield despite Benfica scoring three times
Thursday 14 April 2022 06:24, UK
Liverpool booked their spot in the final four of the Champions League and a clash with Villarreal after seeing the job through with a 3-3 draw with Benfica (6-4 agg).
Ibrahima Konate and a Roberto Firmino double did the damage for Jurgen Klopp's side as they repelled a brief threat of a Benfica comeback when Goncalo Ramos netted in the first half.
Roman Yaremchuk and the impressive Darwin Nunez scored two consolation goals for the visitors to level the game on the night but overall this was a routine evening for Klopp's side, who decided to rest Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mane, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson and Mohamed Salah from the start in a rotated team from the 2-2 draw with Manchester City on Sunday.
Liverpool had been victorious on aggregate in all 35 of the UEFA competition ties in which they won the away first leg and had few moments of worry at Anfield, holding a 3-1 lead from the first leg.
Just like the first leg, it was a set-piece that opened the scoring for Klopp's side and once again it was Konate. Kostas Tsimikas whipped the corner in from the left and the centre-back sprung between three Benfica defenders to head into the bottom corner.
Liverpool's risk-reward offside trap that usually catches plenty of prey was breached on 32 minutes when James Milner's deflected block sent through Ramos, who finished confidently into the far corner.
Any hope of an unlikely comeback at Anfield required Benfica to grab the next goal but Liverpool put their foot down in the second half. Their second goal arrived in comical fashion when goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos blotted his copybook with an unforced error to allow the ball to slip out of his grasp and a rushed Jan Vertonghen clearance allowed Diogo Jota to cross for Firmino to tap in.
The Brazilian was on hand to grab his second goal 10 minutes later from another excellent Tsimikas delivery that was missed by Nicholas Otamendi and finished in classy fashion by the Liverpool striker.
Benfica managed to break through the Reds offside trap again on 73 minutes when Yaremchuk scampered through and rounded Alisson. The offside flag originally chalked the goal off but VAR stepped in to award it as Joe Gomez was playing the Ukrainian striker onside.
VAR was involved again on 81 minutes to overturn another wrongly-called offside decision which had ruled out Nunez's tidy finish from a Joao Mario pass. Nunez, linked with a host of Premier League clubs, almost set up a grandstand finish but his powerful volley was brilliantly stopped by Alisson and his late finish was ruled out by the assistant referee - this time correctly.
The quadruple dream remains alive for Liverpool.
This performance will have left the Benfica hierarchy rubbing their hands together as their star man must have added millions to his asking price. If this was an audition for the player to see if he could cut it against elite Premier League opposition then he passed it with flying colours.
Newcastle, Arsenal and Manchester United have all been reportedly linked with a move.
This is a player absolutely ready-made for the rigours of English football. He can run, he can hold the ball and at Anfield he showed he can finish. On another day he could have walked away with the match ball. The records will say he only scored once but he had the ball in the net three times, showcasing deadly finishing ability. It was unfortunate that he was slightly ahead of the play on both occasions which triggered the assistant referee's flag to be raised.
"The day when we qualify for the semi-finals of the Champions League and I'm not happy, come here and knock me out - it would make no sense," Klopp told BT Sport. "We made seven changes for good reason, and played a really good first half where I liked a lot of things.
"But 3-1 up, the last line have never played together and it's about details. It's difficult to keep 100 per cent concentrated, the opposition will celebrate that they got a draw, a result here, but we didn't have the perfect mindset in that moment.
"Of course, it wasn't exactly what we wanted to do, but it's not important. Playing the best game of the season tonight or our whole time together, wouldn't have made it any more likely to get into the final. We played the game we played, we're through and that's all I wanted. I'm happy.
"I was never in doubt about our line-up. We knew it would be hard, the backline have never played together and it was three centre-halves in there, you lose the voice without Virgil van Dijk, but the rotation in other positions was never a problem."
First legs to be played April 26/27; Second legs to be played May 3/4.
Final to be played in Paris on May 28.
Liverpool face title rivals Manchester City again on Saturday as they head to Wembley for the semi-final of the FA Cup; kick-off at 3.30pm. Jurgen Klopp's side then play host to Manchester United at Anfield on Tuesday, live on Sky Sports Premier League from 7pm; kick-off at 8pm. Liverpool trail City by a point with just seven games left to play in the Premier League and cannot afford any slip-ups in the run-in.
Benfica return to action with a derby against Sporting Lisbon in the Portuguese league on Sunday. Nelson Verissimo's side trail second-placed Sporting by nine points with five games remaining, and need a win to keep their hopes of securing Champions League football next season alive.
April 16 - Man City (Wembley) FA Cup semi-finals
April 19 - Man United (h) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
April 24 - Everton (h) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
April 26/27 - Villarreal Champions League SF first leg
April 30 - Newcastle (a) Premier League
May 3/4 - Villarreal Champions League SF second leg
May 7 - Tottenham (h) Premier League
May 10 - Aston Villa (a) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
May 14 - FA Cup final *
May 15 - Southampton (a) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
May 22 - Wolves (h) Premier League
May 28 - Champions League final *
* Subject to progress
