Jordan Henderson has warned his Liverpool team-mates that Inter Milan have proved that a two-goal lead from the first leg doesn’t guarantee an easy night in the Champions League.
The Reds are preparing to face Benfica at Anfield on Wednesday night and are the overwhelming favourites to secure progression having won 3-1 in Lisbon last week. Jurgen Klopp’s side were good value for their advantage and on another night would have had the tie completely wrapped up - if not for some profligate finishing.
Nevertheless, the Premier League giants will be expected to navigate their way past Benfica, setting up a semi-final clash with Villarreal, who stunned Bayern Munich on Tuesday night. With a two-goal advantage from the away leg, Liverpool are in the exact position they found themselves in against Inter in the last-16, where they were given an almighty fright.
On an off night for Klopp’s quadruple chasers, the Italians ran out 1-0 winners thanks to Lautaro Martinez’s stunning strike and perhaps proved to others in the competition they were in fact fallible. And club captain Henderson has said he hopes that his team have learnt a lesson from that Inter defeat and told his colleagues they must be at their very best to earn a berth in the last four.
"If we want to go through, we will have to be at our best,” he wrote in Wednesday night’s matchday programme. “It really is that simple. Internazionale in the last round showed that, at this level, even a two-goal lead can be challenged and there are a few lessons from that tie that we will be taking into this game.
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"So we will be taking nothing for granted. There will be those outside of the club who will be writing Benfica off, but we will be doing nothing of the sort.
"By the same token, we also know that if we perform to the standards that we are capable of we will have a good chance of taking another step forward in a competition that means a great deal to everyone involved with Liverpool FC."
In the second half of last week’s clash at the Estadio da Luz, Benfica proved they are worthy adversaries, with Luis Diaz’s late goal ultimately worsening what had looked a reasonable result for the underdogs. Henderson, who lifted the European Cup in 2019, suggested that their victory shouldn’t mask the fact that Benfica are more than capable of giving them issues.
"We have done well to reach a stage where qualifying for another semi-final is achievable, but it is one thing getting close, it is quite another doing whatever it takes to get through,” he continued.
"We didn't need last week's first leg in Lisbon to know that Benfica are a very good side. They are in the last eight on merit and even though we were able to get a decent result against them, we knew from the very first minute to the very last that we were involved in a proper contest against a strong team who had the same objective as us.
"The result that we earned should not mask this. Nor should or will it give us a false sense of security. “
