Sid Lowe on Luis Díaz's performance in Portugal
I will leave you with Andy Hunter’s match report from Lisbon. Thanks for reading, and goodnight!
Sadio Mane: “I scored a goal today, I’m happy but more important is the goals we scored. We wait now for the next game to get the job done at home.”
Andy Robertson: “It was a tough game, on top first half, created good chancse and could have gone in a couple more up. We wanted to keep it tight and unfortunately did;’t do that. They got a goal, lifted the crowd, we got a bit sloppy. The third goal was big but we’ve still for a bit more to do.”
Manchester City 1-0 Atletico Madrid means that there is a *lot* resting on the second leg of that particular tie.
Full-time: Benfica 1-3 Liverpool
A club record five straight away wins in the Champions League for Liverpool. They wobbled for the first 25 minutes of the second half, but Diaz’s late goal makes them near enough shoo-ins for the last four.
90+7 min: Henderson plays Jota in, and Vlachimodos stops this tie running all the way away from Benfica with a good block.
90+4 min: Fabinho is helped to his feet. I wonder if a concussion issue here would hinder his participation against Man City at the weekend – not that this is the priority here. I imagine he’ll sit out the dying seconds.
90+2 min: Otamendi and Fabinho clash heads at a free-kick and both need lengthy checks. The Liverpool man seems slightly the worse off.
Otamendi. Photograph: Ian Stephen/ProSports/Shutterstock
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90+1 min: We will see three added minutes as this one winds down.
89 min: Gomez and Milner replace Alexander-Arnold and Keita.
Goal! Benfica 1-3 Liverpool (Diaz, 87)
They get the third, and now they probably do seal the tie! Keita intercepts in midfield, droves forwards and slips Diaz through. He skips past Vlachodimos a little too easily, slides home and absolutely loves the boos from Benfica’s faithful. Liverpool had just stepped things up in the previous few minutes, and made it count.
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87 min: Ramos is replaced by Joao Mario for Benfica.
86 min: And now Alexander-Arnold’s drive loops over off Weigl. Robertson delivers well once again from the corner, but just beyond all the heads.
85 min: A Jota strike is deflected wide. Liverpool look more as if they wouldn’t mind a third goal, now. Alexander-Arnold’s corner is defended well.
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83 min: Alisson *just about* gets away with an awkward turn past Rafa Silva. It briefly seemed as if he’d lost control of the ball.
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82 min: Liverpool spark back to life but, after one Henderson chip across is defended, Diaz totally miscues his volley from the second. Benfica bring on Yaremchuk, the Ukrainian, for Everton.
81 min: And now a free-kick won for Liverpool in a similar area. Robertson will deliver ... but Nunez is back in his own six-yard box to nod it away.
78 min: Jota tries to outmuscle Otamendi down the left, but he’s not winning that one. Free-kick conceded.
76 min: A slower spell. There haven’t been too many in this half. I mean, Liverpool would take this even if the second period as been flat for them.
73 min: I thought Liverpool would be about four up by now, once they opened the scoring, but it hasn’t happened in this half and Benfica have stepped it right up too.
72 min: I haven’t seen the Van Dijk/Nunez incident back but there is a vocal school of thought that Benfica should have had a penalty there. Van Dijk did have an arm out, but VAR said no.
69 min: Man City lead Atletico 1-0 thanks to Kevin De Bruyne.
67 min: Nunez is away down the left! And has acres to run into! But he doesn’t fancy a crack on his left foot and, checking inside Van Dijk, tumbles in a heap – not for the first time. No penalty; lots of noise; a badly wasted position.
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65 min: Alexander-Arnold’s radar is bang on today and he finds Robertson with his latest visionary, laser-like diagonal into the box. Robertson is in a similar area to that from which Diaz set up the second, but his knock across is cut out.
63 min: Benfica’s tempo is approximately a zillion times higher than it was before the interval. Thought Keita still has too much speed for Taarabt, these days refashioned as a diligent holding midfielder, who gets booked.
61 min: It could and maybe should be 2-2! Benfica break with men over; Everton has a man to his right but can also line up a clear crack from 18 yards ... but Alisson saves low down! And Klopp doesn’t mess about now: Firmino, Jota and Henderson come on for Mane, Salah and Thiago.
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60 min: “Darwin [Nunez] on the left for Benfica seems like a natural selection,” chirps Gary Byrne. Not bad.
58 min: We will see Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota soon, which does not surprise me at all. Thiago is the latest to aim a wayward pass, and shortly afterwards he is booked. What a contrast to Liverpool’s first half this is.
55 min: Liverpool are trying to find their earlier groove. Benfica look a far snappier beast off the ball now though. The next goal, if we get one, will be very interesting ... and Nunez tries to provide it, being found deep in the box by a good Silva cross but getting his header wrong. That was a decent chance for 2-2 actually.
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52 min: Nunez seizes on a Thiago mistake, now, but fires wildly off target.
51 min: Well, well. Fair play to Benfica because, despite being outclassed, they *have* kept having a go. And they’ve capitalised on a mistake, raising the roof!
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Goal! Benfica 1-2 Liverpool (Nunez, 49)
They did get sloppy – very sloppy! Konate hashes his clearance of a right-sided cross and lets it run through him ... leaving Nunez to control smartly and finish in style. Game, unexpectedly, on!
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47 min: Alexander-Arnold lets a Konate pass roll under his foot. Surely Liverpool won’t get sloppy here.
Peeeeep! Second half is underway
Can Benfica make this interesting?
“The keeper is known as Odysseus here in Lisboa,” writes Tim Stappard. “But Achilles on defence might help him out.”
What’s happening in Man City v Atletico? Rob Smyth knows:
Half-time: Benfica 0-2 Liverpool
Konate, Mane and not many problems at all for Klopp and co.
45 min: Konate denies Nunez at one end, Salah could make it three at the other following another gorgeous Alexander-Arnold ball but Vlachodimos saves, then back in Liverpool’s box Silva blasts over from a half-decent position. Phew.
44 min: Mane finds space on the transition for the umpteenth time but his pass to Diaz is given a little too late and the Colombian is crowded out.
42 min: A few of you pointing out that there was a fair bit of nominative determinism back in the 23rd minute ...
41 min: “The one flaw in Liverpool’s game so far: Fabinho’s knee slide fail as he ran over to congratulate Konate on his goal,” notes Peter Oh correctly.
40 min: “I may rue saying this, however, like a Windsor knot, this tie is done,” writes Ciaran Boland.
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39 min: Diaz, still being whistled, would love a goal and tries for one – but it fizzes just wide from 20 yards.
37 min: A speculative effort from Everton is easily held by Alisson. Benfica will need something here because a two-goal deficit, or worse, feels like curtains.
36 min: Sorry, Benfica, but this game is going 100% as I’d expected.
Goal! Benfica 0-2 Liverpool (Mane, 34)
Yeah, that’s probably tie over. But what a goal! Alexander-Arnold pings a *sumptuous* 50-yard ball over the defence to Diaz, who has the presence of mind to cushion a perfect header across to Mane ... who finishes confidently.
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33 min: Best chance yet for Benfica, with Otemendi looking a safe bet to nod home a left-sided corner but somehow making no contact at all. From nowhere it should have been 1-1.
31 min: Nunez rounds Konate and then tumbles over; he won’t get the free-kick he seeks, but again that gets the crowd up.
30 min: Robertson is causing havoc, getting so much space with Silva offering no defensive protection, and his latest centre is cut out on the stretch by Vertonghen.
29 min: Fabinho clips Ramos after being duped by a nice piece of play, and is a bit lucky not to be booked.
27 min: Salah looks poised to nod in yet another Robertson cross but the ball sails a *fraction* too high.
26 min: Benfica are lively-ish when they *do* get forward, but a deflected Grimaldo cross is ultimately held by Alisson.
24 min: Again it could be two, Keita slipping Diaz through on the inside right but Vlachodimos blocking crucially. Liverpool look several classes apart here, let’s be frank.
23 min: Everton is found in lots of space down the left by a Nunez flick, and his finish into the side netting is ultimately a disappointment.
22 min: Now Salah crosses teasingly towards Mane, but Otamendi is there just in time.
21 min: This really does have those “could kill the tie tonight” vibes.
19 min: It should be two, Mane dinking across from the left byline. Keita completely fluffs his attempted header, sending it into the ground and nowhere near goal, when it was at his mercy.
Goal! Benfica 0-1 Liverpool (Konate, 17)
Yes, that was inevitable, see? Robertson swings over a corner from the left and Konate is simply too aggressive for Benfica, leaping between two men and powering a firm downwards header into the corner. His first goal for Liverpool!
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15 min: Now space for Keita, whose shot is blocked, before a wayward Thiago shot. It’s hard to see Liverpool not scoring here.
14 min: “Surely, Clive, Liverpool’s dynamic front three has the beating of aging former Premier League stalwarts? Benfica’s real threat comes from the crowd, intimation and the dark arts,” says Ian Copestake.
12 min: Keita and Alexander-Arnold now both test Vlachodimos in quick succession. Nunez counters and wants a free-kick on the edge of the box but nothing doing, to the crowd’s fury.
10 min: And now Salah *does* reach a wonderful Mane backheel, but Vlachodimos blocks at his near post. Benfica deal with the corner but don’t look so convincing at the back.
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8 min: Salah *almost* gets on the end of a Diaz ball that evaded Mane. A little less weight on the ball and that was a clear chance.
6 min: Now Nunez crosses for Benfica and, although nobody is really on the end of it, Alexander-Arnold is almost caught out belatedly by Everton as he clears.
4 min: Keita, from a decent-ish position, heads over from a whipped Robertson cross. There was space for Liverpool.
3 min: Luis Diaz, the ex-Porto player, gets some lusty early booing. Liverpool have started sparkily ... but then Konate must be sharp to stop an ambitious Rafa Silva burst through.
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Peeeeep! Off we go!
Liverpool are in yellow, Benfica in red. Klopp’s men kick us off and shoot left to right!
Now the teams are lining up to the strains of the Champions League anthem! It’s a belting atmosphere, as you would expect.
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There is an eagle flying around the stadium, it’s just like Selhurst Park. We’ll see the teams come out soon. Fabinho, Keita and Thiago have never started a game together, it transpires.
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“Benfica also have a player called Rafa but I think that’s best ignored,” notes Stephen Carr.
After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, the Football Weekly pod squad are going back out on tour. Tickets to live shows in June and July will be available here from midday (BST) on Wednesday.
Richard Hirst with another canny Benfica lineup spot: “It’s always feisty when Liverpool play Everton, so should be good tonight.”
I mean, let’s hope so.
That’s six changes for Liverpool from the win over Watford, by the way. What depth Klopp can now call upon. Recognise a few of those Benfica names? You should – the lies of Vertonghen, Otamendi and, yes, Adel Taarabt were all Premier League favourites, in some senses anyway.
Here is Will Unwin with the Benfica director – and Liverpool nemesis – Simao Sabrosa:
Teams
Benfica: Vlachodimos, Gilberto, Grimaldo, Vertonghen, Everton, Darwin, Rafa, Weigl, Otamendi, Taarabt, Gonçalo Ramos. Subs: Helton, Meite, Seferovic, Yaremchuk, Gonçalves, João Mário, Lázaro, Radonjic, Dias, Almeida, Bernardo, Morato
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Thiago, Keita, Salah, Mane, Diaz. Subs: Kelleher, Milner, Firmino, Gomez, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Minamino, Jota, Tsimikas, Matip, Elliott.
Hello
Quarter-final night! And you get the sense Liverpool would gladly try and finish it there and then. They could have had worse draws than a Benfica side who are way, way off the pace in Portugal – 15 points off the lead – and certainly lack the sheen of times past.
But the Portuguese side merit respect – they smash and grabbed it agains a decent Ajax team in the round of 16 and even thrashed what was, at the time, an awful Barcelona in the group stage. Bayern Munich also demolished them 4-0 at Estadio Da Luz, though, and it is hard not to feel that if Liverpool get an early one tonight they could manage a few.
If not, it could well be tight, and it’s worth remembering that for all the imperious form of Jurgen Klopp’s men they have tended to score in ones of twos recently. Their only defeat since 28 December was last time out in the Champions League, when Inter Milan could not quite reverse their first-leg damage. This should, on paper, be a more straightforward affair – but it has more than a hint of glamour to it and Benfica will pose problems if they rise to the occasion.
Let’s see if they do. Join us!
