Jamie Jackson on Liverpool keeping the quadruple dream alive
Jürgen Klopp speaks!
Andy Hunter was at Anfield tonight, and his report has landed. Thanks for reading this one. Nighty night!
He’s then asked about Liverpool’s opponents in the semi-final. “If I could analyse Villarreal right now, it would be really strange. What would I have done last week, when we play Manchester City and Benfica? I saw the result, they were very impressive. I have only picked up pieces, but who kicks out Juventus and kicks out Bayern deserves to be in the semis, so they are really good. And they have an extremely experienced manager who is the king of the cups, it is unbelievable what Unai Emery is doing. When we play them, we will be ready, but give me a little time to prepare properly!”
Jurgen Klopp’s verdict, as told to BT Sport. “The day when we qualify for the Champions League semi-finals and I am not happy, please come here and knock me out, because that makes no sense! We made seven changes for good reasons, played a really good first half, scored goals, I really liked a lot of things, we were 3-1 up ... and this last line never played together, and it is little details. It’s really difficult. We did not have 100 percent mindset but it is not important, because if we played the best game of the season tonight, it wouldn’t make it more likely for us to get to the final. We got through and I am really happy.”
Jordan Henderson speaks to BT. “I think we’d want to do better overall, but we started the game well and could have scored one or two more goals. It was really comfortable but we’re disappointed at the goals we conceded. We knew it was going to be tough. We got through to the next round which is the most important thing.”
Benfica go up to their fans in the Anfield Road end and soak up the love. They battled to the very end, and for the want of a mistimed run here, a few inches there, could have had another goal or two. But Liverpool’s tightrope act of an offside trap did enough. Liverpool should certainly have had at least a couple more themselves, but the final ball was lacking on a couple of extremely promising breaks. It matters not to Jurgen Klopp, though, whose side make it through to their third Champions League semi-final in five seasons. They throughly deserve to do so over the piece, but Benfica made them play to the very last whistle all right.
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FULL TIME: Liverpool 3-3 Benfica (agg 6-4)
Well, that was eventful! Benfica go out with their heads held high; Liverpool are through to a semi-final showdown with Villarreal!
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90 min +5: They’ve done that all right! A low cross into the Liverpool box from the left. Nunez sticks out a leg and guides the ball across Alisson and into the bottom right! But for the second time tonight, his goal is chalked off for offside.
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90 min +4: Benfica have kept Liverpool honest until the very end, though.
90 min +3: Salah tries a curler into the top left. Not far away. As the ball disappears into the Kop, the home fans finally feel confident enough to belt out a chorus of You’ll Never Walk Alone.
90 min +2: The fans chant the name of Origi, who will probably for the off in the summer. He’ll not be forgotten in a hurry, given the catalogue of important goals he’s scored.
90 min +1: In the first of five added minutes, Firmino is replaced by Origi, while Benfica swap Gilberto and Everton for Gil Dias and Andre Almeida.
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90 min: Salah sashays into the box down the inside right. He draws three men, reaches the corner of the six-yard box, and rolls across for Mane, who slams home. But he’s miles offside.
89 min: Liverpool play some possession football. Tsimikas, quite the character, juggles the ball out on the left, the Greek Jim Baxter. You have to admire the audacity.
87 min: Benfica pour forward. Liverpool sit back. The majority of Anfield falls nervously quiet. The away fans are taking up the slack. They are giving it plenty!
85 min: Nunez looked offside to the naked eye, but Konate’s trailing foot kept him live. Liverpool try to steady the ship by hitting back with a goal of their own. Salah and Firmino combine down the inside-left to win a corner, from which Thiago blazes over from 25 yards. That’ll have knocked someone’s hat off in the Kop. That was travelling, too!
83 min: ... and Benfica nearly hit Liverpool with a double whammy, as Nunez creams a shot towards the bottom left from 20 yards. It’s heading in, and travelling some, too. Alisson does extremely well to get down and save with a strong hand. This really is game on!
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GOAL! Liverpool 3-3 Benfica (Nunez 82); agg 6-4
This isn’t over yet! Nunez puts the ball in the Liverpool net for the second time, but this time it counts! He’s sprung clear down the middle, draws Alisson to the edge of his box, and dinks over the keepr and into the bottom right. A VAR check for offside, but it’s good, and suddenly this is game on!
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81 min: Mane tries to find Salah with a crossfield pass. The ball flies out for a goal kick. Liverpool have played some fine football tonight, but some of the work in the final third has been lacking.
79 min: Tsimikas battles down the left and slips Mane into the box. Mane cuts back for Salah, who tries to set Firmino up with a cushioned backflick. Firmino has to adjust his feet, and though he manages to get a shot away, it’s weak and blocked.
78 min: Benfica send on Paulo Bernardo, in place of Goncalo Ramos.
77 min: Tsimikas wins a corner down the left and takes it himself. Thiago sends a shot through a crowded box, the ball somehow hitting nobody and bobbling harmlessly out for a goal kick.
75 min: Salah tears down the right in acres. He’s got Mane clear in the middle, but his pass inside is underhit and allows Otamendi to slide in to intercept. That should have been a fourth. Liverpool have wasted some big chances tonight, though it doesn’t look like being costly.
74 min: Now it’s the Benfica fans who are giving it plenty. Another Benfica goal would certainly put the cat among the pigeons.
GOAL! Liverpool 3-2 Benfica (Yaremchuk 72); agg 6-3
Benfica have the ball in the net. Yaremchuk is pinged clear down the middle, rounds a hesitant Alisson on the left, and slots. The flag goes up for offside to cheers ... but VAR takes a look, and Gomez was playing him on. Game on? Surely not?!
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71 min: Everton is good to continue.
70 min: Everton goes down. Behave yourself, they’re four points clear of the dropzone now. Anyway, the man in question has taken a knock, and requires a once-over by the trainer.
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68 min: Tsimikas reaches the byline on the left and sweeps a cross to Salah on the right. Salah cushions a header down for Keita, who drives wide right of the goal. Liverpool don’t look in the mood to declare.
67 min: Diaz departs to warm applause as Mane comes on. Benfica swap out Taarabt for Joao Mario. The home fans, meanwhile, as their favourite new song ringing around Anfield explicitly states, feel fine.
GOAL! Liverpool 3-1 Benfica (Firmino 65); agg 6-2
A free kick 35 yards out, just left of centre. Tsimikas takes, looping it over the Benfica back line towards Firmino, who opens his body and sends a sidefoot volley whistling into the right-hand side of the net.
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63 min: Salah knocks the ball down the right past Grimaldo, who puts the shoulder in to block. For some reason, the referee - who has let plenty go this evening - waves play on here too.
62 min: Diaz romps down the left and tries to stand one up for Keita in the middle. He gets the cross all wrong. Benfica clear. Nunez comes back on.
61 min: Nunez clatters into the advertising hoardings, and for a minute, Benfica are down to ten as play goes on in his absence. The physio comes over to check what’s what.
60 min: A lovely flowing Liverpool move. Thiago sprays wide right for Salah, who feeds Gomez on the overlap. Gomez cuts back for Keita, whose low shot pinballs through to Firmino. An attempted backflick doesn’t come off. Benfica clear.
59 min: Nunez attempts a Van Bastenesque volley from a wide position on the left. Nope. The ball sails softly into Alisson’s arms.
57 min: That assist is Jota’s last act of the evening. He’s one of three Liverpool changes. Henderson and Milner also depart; Fabinho, Thiago and Salah come on.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Benfica (Firmino 55); agg 5-2
Keita bursts into space down the middle. He feeds Diaz, who should break into the box and score. He takes a heavy touch and Vlachodimos comes out to smother. He should claim, but the ball pings off his legs. Vertonghen, facing his own goal, hoicks a panicked ball to the Liverpool left. Jota sends it straight back in, and Firmino taps home. What a fiasco from a Benfica point of view!
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53 min: Liverpool stroke it around the back. Benfica aren’t pressing them right now. It’s a stand-off.
51 min: Diaz and Firmino latch onto a loose ball on the edge of the Benfica box. Both juggle with it. Neither can quite get it under control. Eventually Firmino has a whack, only to smack his effort into the back of Diaz. Liverpool are not quite clicking at the moment.
49 min: Yaremchuk hares after a long pass down the right. Alisson is forced to race out of his box to blooter clear. Anfield is pretty quiet right now. A two-goal lead is never quite enough, as Real Madrid nearly found out last night.
47 min: Diaz wins a Liverpool a corner down the right. Nothing much comes of it. A fairly low-key start to the half.
Liverpool get the second half underway. They’re kicking towards the Kop in the second half, which will please the superstitious among their fanbase. Benfica have made a change: striker Roman Yaremchuk has come on for Diogo Goncalves.
Half-time entertainment.
HALF TIME: Liverpool 1-1 Benfica (agg: 4-2)
There’s just enough time for Goncalves to have a dig from distance. Easy for Alisson, the flag goes up for offside anyway, and that’s the end of a highly entertaining first half. Liverpool are still in control of this tie, but Benfica are far from finished.
45 min +2: Diaz dribbles infield from the left. The ball breaks to Henderson, who rolls into the direction of Gomez, steaming in from the right. It’s an ersatz facsimile of the Pele / Carlos Alberto dynamic in the 1970 World Cup final. Gomez connects well, but his shot flies straight at Vlachodimos.
45 min +1: The first of three extra first-half minutes passes by without incident.
45 min: Keita has another go from distance. This effort is much better, a daisy-cutter sent towards the bottom right from 25 yards. It curls wide of the post at the last. Had that stayed on a true line, the keeper wasn’t getting to it.
44 min: Now it’s Benfica’s turn to stroke it around confidently. Liverpool aren’t exactly clinging on, but they won’t be unhappy to hear the half-time whistle, I’ll be bound.
42 min: Liverpool try to settle everyone down with a little bit of sterile possession in the midfield. Whether they calm anyone in the stand is a moot point, but they keep Benfica at arm’s length for a couple of minutes.
40 min: The goal, quickly followed by that spurned opportunity, has given Benfica more belief. Anfield is suddenly a more pensive place. Meanwhile here’s Mark Lloyd: “The presence of Darwin in the Benfica line up nudges me to ponder that if the great Divock doesn’t call his autobiography ‘On The Species Of Origi’ it’ll amount to a tragic oversight.”
38 min: A huge chance goes begging for Liverpool. Milner’s long ball down the middle finds Firmino clear. Vlachodimos is in no man’s land. Firmino thinks about the lob, but instead squares for Diaz, who shapes to slam home from six yards ... only for Grimaldo to slide in from nowhere and take the ball off his toe! Diaz hops around in impotent frustration. The resulting corner comes to nothing.
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37 min: Keita tries to score from 35 yards! Full marks for ambition, though the ball’s currently flying over Stanley Park.
35 min: The ball did indeed come off Milner as it was played through ... and Ramos was onside anyway. Nothing wrong with that goal whatsoever. Liverpool will be annoyed with themselves, though, as that came out of nowhere.
34 min: VAR takes a good look at it. Was Ramos offside? They haven’t drawn the lines on screen. Ramos looked a little off to the naked eye ... but the ball could equally have come off Milner’s foot last. Anyway, the decision is made, and the scores are level on the night!
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Benfica (Ramos 32); agg 4-2
Goncalves wins a 50-50 with Milner and prods a ball down the inside left. Ramos is clear! He lashes a shot past Alisson and into the left-hand side of the net. The away end erupts in delight. That came out of nothing!
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30 min: Tsimikas whips it in from the left. Some head tennis. Diaz’s header finds Firmino, six yards out. Firmino heads goalwards, but the ball breaks off Vertonghen’s back and deflects over. Another corner. No such drama at that one.
29 min: Vertonghen yanks Keita back by the shirt. A free kick is awarded, but no yellow card. Very strange. Liverpool move up the field. Jota considers a curler towards the top right, just inside the box, but opts to slip Tsimikas in on the overlap instead. Tsimikas wins a corner.
28 min: Diaz very nearly releases Jota down the right, but Otamendi sticks out a telescopic leg to intercept. Possibly a goal-saving intervention.
26 min: Diaz sits down Weigl with pace and elegance, and enters the box down the inside-right channel. He sends a rasping shot towards the top right. Vlachodimos twists to turn the ball out for a corner; Diaz shouts in frustration, because that would have been a picture-book goal. The resulting corner leads to nought.
25 min: That was such an assured finish by Nunez, even if it didn’t count. Another reminder that this is still not over, with plenty of time remaining. The manner in which Anfield felt silent attested to that.
23 min: Nunez is slipped clear down the inside right channel by Everton’s cute pass. He draws Alisson and chips him. What a finish! Unfortunately for Benfica, it won’t count, as the flag goes up correctly for offside. VAR confirms he was well off. “I thought Vlachodimos could have dislodged a tooth there. They might have needed Pliers to remove it.” Stephen Carr, ladies and gentlemen, because somebody had to.
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Benfica (Konate 21); agg 4-1
A first corner of the evening for Liverpool out on the left. Tsimikas takes long. Konate rises highest on the six-yard line, and plants a simple header into the bottom right. A calm, confident finish by the man who opened the scoring last week!
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20 min: Diaz tears at warp speed down the right and fires towards the low post. Milner tries to flick home but doesn’t get enough on the ball. Vlachodimos can’t gather, but Firmino can’t get to the rebound, and Benfica clear. As close as the hosts have come.
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19 min: The free kick, taken by Tsimikas, is a waste of time.
18 min: Milner sprays a pass wide left for Tsimikas, who has plenty of options in the middle, but doesn’t get enough height on his cross. Tsimikas comes again, dribbling down the wing and getting clipped by Gilberto. Free kick in a dangerous position, just to the left of the box.
16 min: It takes the physio some time to make sure Vlachodimos is OK to continue. Eventually it’s decided he’s fine. Play restarts.
14 min: Liverpool come again in short order, Jota one-twoing with Firmino down the inside-left channel. Jota stretches to get to the return ball. Vlachodimos comes out. They come together. The ball pinballs out off Jota for a goal kick, and the keeper takes an accidental knee upside the noggin. On comes the physio, out comes the ice pack.
13 min: Gomez digs out a marvellous deep cross from the right. Jota heads it into the right-hand side of the net, but he’d shoved Otamendi in the back. An obvious free kick.
12 min: Diaz is brought down by Grimaldo on the right. Milner blooters a witless free kick into the wall, and Benfica counter. Everton has a little bit of space and sends an outswinging shot wide of the top-left corner. Another reminder to Liverpool that this isn’t over yet.
11 min: Nunez dribbles down the left and gets the better of Matip, reaching the byline before pulling back in the hope of finding Goncalo Ramos. Alisson is on point to gather. That was dangerous, and will give Benfica hope.
10 min: A little bit of space for Tsimikas down the left. He hoicks a decent cross into the middle but Otamendi deals with it well. After a fairly even start, Liverpool are beginning to assert some dominance.
8 min: Jota breaks into space down the left but slips over as he gets into the box. Milner tries to keep things going with a wedge down the channel. He chases after his own chip, but can’t get to it and Benfica clear.
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7 min: Benfica look to spring Nunez clear down the left. He’s flagged offside, but there wasn’t much in it. The visitors looking to exploit Liverpool’s high defensive line, just as Manchester City did last Sunday.
5 min: Diaz gets the crowd going with a determined press. The Benfica defence doesn’t look particularly comfortable with it, especially when Jota and Henderson join in.
3 min: Nunez, Benfica’s goalscorer in the first leg, makes good down the left and curls a dangerous inswinger into the Liverpool box. Tsimikas clears under pressure from headline-in-waiting Everton, and the flag goes up for offside anyway.
2 min: A fairly nondescript start as both teams look to find their feet. Anfield nevertheless continues to give it plenty.
Benfica get the ball rolling. They’re kicking towards the Kop in this first half. “I read about Bèla Guttmann, mostly in an essay form,” writes Yash Gupta. “The thing that really surprised was how Benfica basically tried to appease his soul and relieve the curse. Only if we knew who to look back to at Spurs!” Jimmy Seed? More on him here, if you so desire.
Before kick off, the teams mingle to pose for a photo, calling for peace around the world. Then a period of silence to remember those who went to a game at Hillsborough in 1989 and never made it back home. Justice for the 97.
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The teams are out! It’s a Big European Night at Anfield™ and so the crowd are responding accordingly. A rare old atmosphere to greet two of the biggest and most storied names in European football. Liverpool wear all red, something they’ve done ever since their very first European Cup run in 1964-65. Benfica are Vermelhos too, so they’re forced into second-choice white tonight. It’s a feast for the eyes ... and for the ears. We’ll be off after a blast of Zadok the Priest (Version) and You’ll Never Walk Alone.
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Jurgen Klopp speaks to BT Sport. “We have to make sure we are ready for a really tough game. I hate it so much when last night my smart phone was saying ‘Oh, Villarreal then!’ Oh I honestly hate that so much! If we thought like this, we would not deserve to go through. But we are ready to make a proper game of it. The reason for the changes is that I expect a tough game. I want fresh legs, I want excitement and desire. I don’t want players to have to fight to get through games. It is my job, I have to make decisions before I know what will be the outcome. But I am really happy with the line-up and the set-up, and really believe this team will go for it. That’s the idea! The plan is to make five subs, to change the game from the bench or bring it over the line. It is the Champions League quarter final. If we do not fight for it, then fair play, Benfica should play in the semis and not us. I would go for it 100 percent, so why shouldn’t Benfica?”
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Liverpool make seven changes to the team sent out in Lisbon. Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané, Virgil van Dijk, Thiago, Fabinho, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all rested, dropping to the bench. In come Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota, Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Kostas Tsimikas.
Benfica make just one change from the first leg, and it’s enforced. Right-sided winger Rafa Silva in injured, so Diogo Gonçalves takes his place.
The teams
Liverpool: Alisson, Gomez, Konate, Matip, Tsimikas, Keita, Milner, Henderson, Jota, Firmino, Diaz.
Subs: Fabinho, van Dijk, Thiago, Mane, Salah, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Robertson, Origi, Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Elliott.
Benfica: Vlachodimos, Gilberto, Otamendi, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Taarabt, Weigl, Goncalves, Goncalo Ramos, Everton, Nunez.
Subs: Meite, Seferovic, Yaremchuk, Joao Mario, Lazaro, Radonjic, Gil Dias, Andre Almeida, Bernardo, Helton Leite, Morato, Pedro Alvaro.
Referee: Serdar Gozubuyuk (Netherlands).
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Preamble
History tells us that Liverpool are home and hosed already. That’s because Liverpool have been victorious all 35 ties in Uefa competition in which they’ve won the first leg away from home. Last week’s 3-1 win at the Stadium of Light therefore puts them in quite the favourable position to make it through to a semi-final with Villarreal.
Nothing’s ever that simple, though, as the last of those 35 ties may illustrate. In the previous round, the Reds won 2-0 away at Internazionale, only for the Italian champions to come haring back at them at Anfield. Had Alexis Sánchez not got himself stupidly sent off seconds after Lautaro Martínez gave an increasingly confident Inter the lead, that run could well have ended at 34, and we wouldn’t be here today. Sliding tackle, sliding doors.
Benfica gave Liverpool the runaround for 25 second-half minutes last week, and there’s no reason why the Portuguese giants can’t make life as uncomfortable for the home side again tonight, just as Inter did. Can they put paid to Liverpool’s proud European sequence, and go one step closer to breaking the curse of Béla Guttmann, which has seen the club lose eight European finals since refusing to give the man who led them to the 1961 and 1962 European Cups a pay rise? Or will Liverpool finish the job they so impressively started last week in Lisbon? We’ll find out soon enough. Kick off at Anfield is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
