Liverpool’s road to glory has run through the Estadio da Luz before. The Merseyside club have won European football’s most prestigious trophy both times they have met Benfica in the quarter-finals. Jurgen Klopp’s team are aiming to make it a hat-trick, starting with the first leg of the last eight of the Champions League tonight in Lisbon.
The two previous occasions were in the old European Cup. In 1978, Bob Paisley’s team lagged way behind in the title race at home and effectively had only one trophy left to play for when they arrived in Portugal. Six years later there were still three pieces of silverware available when Joe Fagan’s side were drawn against Benfica; 1983-84 would become Anfield’s most successful season with the club winning the title, the League Cup and the European Cup. This is the campaign that Klopp’s men hope to emulate or even surpass in the coming weeks.
