Benfica produced a stirring performance at Anfield but it’s Liverpool who will face Villarreal in the Champions League semi-finals, the Reds progressing 6-4 on aggregate after a 3-3 second-leg draw in their quarter-final tie.
Liverpool were seen as favourites by most after claiming a 3-1 first-leg advantage, and they showed why early in Tuesday’s game. It was deja vu for Benfica as Ibrahima Konate headed home the opener from a corner, as he did in the reverse fixture.
James Milner inadvertently played Goncalo Ramos in on goal, and the youngster finished with aplomb to level things on the night, but it still felt like Liverpool’s game. They attacked well, with Kostas Tsimikas impressive on the left, and they looked like they were taking the game away from Benfica in the second half.
Roberto Firmino finished after some hurried defending from the visitors left them at sixes and sevens, Diogo Jota firing the ball across goal for a tap-in for his strike partner. When Firmino got his second after woeful Benfica marking from a Tsimikas free-kick, it looked like the visitors could be in for a bad night.
The away side showed spirit, though. As in the first leg, they kept coming, probing the Liverpool defence when they got the chance. They got one back when Roman Yaremchuk ran in behind onto Alex Grimaldo’s pass, kept his cool to round Alisson and slot home. Initially flagged offside, the decision was overturned by VAR, Joe Gomez playing him on.
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