The draw for the next round of the Champions League knockout stages took place on Friday morning. Jurgen Klopp was set to find out who his Liverpool team would face in the quarter-finals of the competition.
The Reds joined Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Villarreal, Benfica, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the draw. Every team would offer a different tactical challenge for Klopp's men to overcome, with some more suited to Liverpool than others.
As each team was revealed, the six-time winners of the tournament were drawn against Benfica. The Reds will play the first leg away from home before concluding the tie in the second leg at Anfield.
Benfica are currently placed third in the Portuguese top-flight, after also finishing third in the table last season. They have the second-best attack in the division according to goals scored this year, and the third-best defence.
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Three teams in Portugal generate more shots per match than Benfica - including Vitoria Guimaraes - and two teams faced fewer shots per match.
Upon inspection of Liverpool's opponents, it is reasonable to suggest that Klopp couldn't have wished for a better draw. Under Nelson Verissimo, they are accustomed to dominating the ball in their homeland, averaging around 61% possession this season.
That is likely to change against Liverpool, but Benfica do not seem to have much of a counter-attacking threat to cause problems for the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Fabinho.
A number of familiar faces are contracted to the Portuguese outfit. Jan Vertonghen has played more minutes than any other outfielder for Benfica this season, and Nicolas Otamendi - former Man City centre-back - tends to partner him in defence.
Adel Taarabt, who used to represent Tottenham Hotspur and QPR, also plays for the club, as well as Roman Yaremchuk who shined for Ukraine in the Euros, and Julian Weigl, who joined Borussia Dortmund shortly after Klopp left in.
Under Verissimo, Benfica favoured 3-4-3 for most the campaign before their captain - Andre Almeida - began to miss games halfway through the season. Since, 4-4-2 has been used more often, with Vertonghen partnering Otamendi in the heart of their defence.
Regardless of the formation used, Darwin Nunez operates as Benfica's primary threat. Linked with a move to the Premier League in recent months, the 22 year-old is being tipped to follow in the footsteps of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani due to his Uruguayan nationality.
Nunez is mobile, aggressive and shares a number of similarities with Suarez and Cavani. This season, he's scored 17 non-penalty goals in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. When Liverpool signed Luis Diaz from Porto in January, Nunez was the only player in the division who had found the net more times than him.
Rafa Silva is another player who Klopp will have to guard against. The versatile talent is primarily a tricky wide player, and he tends to perform on the right flank, meaning he'll likely come up against Andy Robertson.
Ultimately, despite the well-known players contracted to Benfica, Liverpool should simply have too much for them. The Reds have shown to be far too strong for Porto in recent years and based on the past two seasons, Benfica are slightly beneath them.
