Liverpool headed into their Champions League quarter-final against Benfica on Tuesday as Sadio Mane, Ibrahima Conte and Luis Diaz gave them a 3-1 lead after the first leg in Lisbon. Conte nodded from a corner in his first Liverpool goal, before Mane tapped home to put the visitors in command at the Estadio da Luz. Benfica made a game of it at the start of the second half when a Konate error allowed lively Darwin Nunez to pull one back, but Diaz, who was brilliant all night, added a third to propel Liverpool into the semi-finals.
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“They fought for their lives. We opened the door for them a little bit,” Jurgen Klopp said. “We scored third and I think everyone agrees we could have scored more.”
Liverpool will be confident of finishing work at Anfield next week, with Klopp comfortable enough to take down Mohamed Salah, Mane and Thiago Alcantara after an hour.
Salah, in particular, was certainly being guarded for Sunday, when Liverpool face Manchester City in what could prove to be the deciding match in the Premier League’s neck-and-neck title race.
The only disappointment was that Salah was unable to get on the scoresheet, with Egypt missing a few chances.
“In that situation every player wants to score and it’s clear that Mo wants to score too,” Klopp said. “It’s a tough period, the boys came back from Africa and it’s really not easy. Huge pressure. They need some time to settle down, everything will be fine.”
Benfica are dotted between a Liverpool-City league and cup double-header, with an FA Cup semi-final coming up at Wembley after the second leg next week, with league games against Klopp’s team Manchester United and local rivals Everton. A crunch period will continue.
Liverpool’s solid win could offer Klopp the luxury of re-routed players for the return phase next week.
Klopp is downplaying suggestions that Liverpool may yet win a historic quadruple this stint.
“We’re not the favorites in one of the competitions we’re in, but who cares? We’ll try it,” he said at a news conference on Monday.
But the competition showcased the gap between Premier League giants and some of the older, European elite. Despite a 20-minute jump in the second half, Benfica were clearly second.
They came into the tie dreaming of another upset, having already seen Barcelona in the group stage and Ajax in the last 16, and they started with the intention of the under-dogs, as Alex Grimaldo hit a thumping, sliding challenge. Raise the crowd together.
But the initial effort soon faded and Liverpool took control, likely to come with increasing regularity as the first half wore on.
Salah was just off a Diaz cross from the left and then had a poked finish left after a superb mane backheel.
The goal was straight in the 17th minute, as Conate trampled Everton Soares in a corner and went to the bottom of the net.
Benfica’s faith seemed to be waning immediately and the prophet Keita should have cut it almost immediately, only for Mane’s cross to hit the ground.
Nicolas Otamendi had a chance from a corner but failed to connect and, in the 34th minute, Liverpool scored again, with Adele Tarbutt’s sloppy touch propelling Alexander-Arnold’s chipped ball towards Diaz, whose Smart header gives Mane a tap-in.
Salah should have made it three before half-time, but the tie was all but over, the only question being how many scores Liverpool would score in the second period.
Instead, Benfica withdrew a goal shortly after the restart as Konate kicked Rafa Silva’s cross into the air and Nunez pounced.
Benfica was converted, as Nez went close twice before seeking a penalty for being intercepted by Uruguay’s Conate.
While fans were bouncing, urging his team, Klopp removed Salah, Mane and Thiago, a sign of superiority that he felt his team was still in a tie.
The substitution put Benfica out of their stride and as the game neared the end, Liverpool snatched a third, slipping into Keita Diaz, who scored the goalkeeper and slipped into an empty net.
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