Liverpool fans knew that April was going to be the month that would stretch them logistically. After all, they are already having to travel down to Wembley and back next week without the aid of Easter weekend trains.
But they probably didn't expect there to be nearly as many issues getting to Lisbon this week for their Champions League quarter-final first leg with Benfica. Staff shortages at Manchester airport made the journey to Portugal a treacherous one for hundreds of Reds fans, with flights delayed for hours across both Sunday and Monday.
Delays of up to three, four and five hours before Wednesday made it a difficult trip for so many and they were only confronted with more problems when they eventually got to the Estadio da Luz on the day of the game.
