English Premier League sides Liverpool and Manchester City gained the early advantage in their Champions League quarter-finals against Benfica and Atletico Madrid respectively on Tuesday night.
Liverpool won 3-1 at the Estadio Da Luz to take a big step towards the semi-final.
Ibrahima Konaté headed in the opener after 17 minutes and Sadio Mané doubled the advantage in the 34th minute.
But the Portuguese side rallied in the second-half. A Konaté blunder just after the restart allowed Darwin Nunez the chance to slot home to halve the deficit.
The hosts, however, failed to capitalise on the visitors' disarray.
And in the dying minutes, the former Porto forward Luis Diaz added the third to put the Merseysiders in the driving seat for the second leg at Anfield next Wednesday.
That game comes after a visit to Manchester City in the English Premier League.
City warmed up for that clash at the Etihad Stadium with a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid.
Diego Simeone's side were typically unyielding as City tried to break them down.
Kevin De Bruyne stroked home the winner 20 mintues from time.
We played an incredible top side who are difficult to face but it is a good result," City boss Pep Guardiola told the British broadcaster BT Sport.
"It is not easy to face a team like Atletico with a lot of experience in this tournament. We will go to their stadiu to score and try and win again."
On Wednesday night, defending champions Chelsea host Real Madrid and the 2020 Champions Bayern Munich travel to Villareal.
