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Facing an inferior Benfica, the ‘reds’ must have learned the lesson of the previous tie against Inter, when after winning 0-2 in Milan they fell 0-1 at home
Liverpool defend this Wednesday at Anfield against Benfica the two goal lead they achieved in Lisbon (1-3) to seal their place in their third Champions League semi-finals with Jürgen Klopp. The result of the first leg of the quarterfinals so favorable to the English team has opened the way for Liverpool to the last two-leg European tie, to keep alive the possibility of a poker title, now that it is just one point behind City in the Premier . Thanks to the goals from Konaté, Mané and Luis Díaz in the Portuguese capital, the ‘reds’ put a foot and a half in the semifinals and are ready to give the finishing touch in front of their fans, against an inferior Benfica and much more inexperienced in commitments of such caliber .
Three days after their draw at the Etihad against City (2-2) in a direct duel for the Premier League, Liverpool faces what could be considered almost a formality, although they must have learned a lesson from the previous match against Inter, when after winning 0-2 in Milan they fell 0-1 at Anfield. For this reason, Klopp will line up the best, with an attack in which Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané should not be missing, with the unknown of the starting center forward position, which Diogo Jota and Luis Díaz opt for. At Benfica, the main threat is the Uruguayan Darwin Ñúnez, scorer of the only goal for the Portuguese in the first leg, of the 0-1 in Amsterdam that surprisingly eliminated Ajax in the round of 16 and of a triplet on Saturday against Belenenses in the Portuguese league.
«The 1-3 in the middle of the tie is as complicated as a 0-2. It’s a good base, but if they score one, as happened against Inter, the game changes. It also happened to us when they scored last week (Darwin Núñez closed the gap at the start of the second half),” the Liverpool coach recalled this Tuesday, while the Benfica coach, Nélson Verísssimo, clings to the option of provoking nerves in the great favourite, “one of the best teams in the world”. “We have a disadvantage, but things can change if you score, and if we score first we can change the course of the game,” said the coach of the Lisbon team.
Likely lineups:
Liverpool:
Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Matip, Robertson, Thiago, Fabinho, Henderson, Salah, Diogo Jota or Luis Díaz y Mané.Benfica:
Vlachodimos, Gilberto, Vertonghen, Otamendi, Grimaldo, Weigl, Taarabt, Diogo Gonçalves, Gonçalo Ramos, Everton and Darwin Núñez.Referee:
Serdar Gözübüyük (The Netherlands).Stadium and hours:
Anfield. 21:00 h.
