Benfica vs Liverpool LIVE: Champions League result, final score and reaction tonight
Relive all the action from the quarter-final first leg in Lisbon
Winger Luis Diaz marked his return to Portugal with the crucial late goal which gave Liverpool a 3-1 lead over Benfica to take back to Anfield for their Champions League quarter-final second leg.
The former Porto star, signed in January, was booed relentlessly but he responded perfectly in the 87th minute to spare the blushes of Ibrahima Konate, whose mistake just over half an hour after scoring his first goal for the club had gifted the hosts a goal they had barely deserved.
Jurgen Klopp’s side had been coasting at half-time in the Estadio da Luz after Sadio Mane’s goal doubled the advantage given to them by their centre-back’s header but having squandered numerous chances, Konate’s legs got tangled as he tried to make a clearance early in the second half and Darwin Nunez capitalised.
It was a goal which significantly changed the game for a long period, as Benfica suddenly looked the better side with Liverpool completely out of sorts, but Diaz had the final word to make the return look slightly more comfortable than it had done.
Victory saw Liverpool, who had lost on their last three visits here, equal a club record of five successive away victories in Europe.
Relive all the action live below:
Benfica vs Liverpool: Team changes
Benfica make two changes to the team that lost 3-2 to Braga in the Primeira Liga last time out. Soualiho Meïté and Roman Yaremchuk are out with Adel Taarabt and Darwin Nunez brought in.
Jurgen Klopp meanwhile makes six changes to his Liverpool starting XI - from the team that face Watford at the weekend. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahim Konate slot into the back line with Naby Keita and Fabinho alongside Thiago Alcantara in midfield. Up top Mo Salah keeps his place but is joined by Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz.
Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, Jordan Henderson, Curtis Jones, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota all drop to the bench,
Benfica vs Liverpool: Line-ups
Benfica XI: Vlachodimos, Gilberto,Otamendi, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Rafa Silva, Weigl, Everton, Taarabt, Goncalo Ramos, Nunez
Liverpool XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara, Keita, Salah, Mane, Diaz
Benfica vs Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp says he has a full squad available for tonight’s match with midfielder Naby Keita returning, along with defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was an unused substitute in Saturday’s league win over Watford.
Both players have overcome injuries and will provide Klopp with some depth ahead of a difficult run of games.
Mohamed Salah wants to sign new Liverpool contract, says Egypt sports minister
Mohamed Salah plans to sign a new deal with Liverpool, according to Egypt sports minister Ashraf Sobhi.
The 29-year-old’s current contract expires at the end of the 2022/23 season and there has been much speculation surrounding his future at Anfield.
But Sobhi, who admits he tried to convince Salah to leave Merseyside, insists the player is now focused on committing his future to the Premier League club.
Sobhi told BBC Sport: “I have advised him to continue his journey at a club other than Liverpool, but his direction now is to renew his contract.”
Mohamed Salah wants to sign new Liverpool contract, says Egypt sports minister
Salah will become a free agent next summer if he does not extend his contract at Anfield
Benfica vs Liverpool
Benfica midfielder, Adel Taarabt, believes his team can stand up to Liverpool across this two-legged Champions League quarter-final and says his team will play without ‘fear’.
“We have a chance as we’re in the quarter-finals.” he said. “Liverpool are a team we respect but we don’t fear them. We know the quality they have but we have quality as well. We have players in attack that can make a big difference.”
Benfica vs Liverpool
Liverpool boss, Jurgen Klopp, wants his team to be at the top of their game going into a run of fixtures that sees them alternate between facing Benfica in the Champions League with Manchester City in both the Premier League and FA Cup.
The results from these four games could determine Liverpool’s season but if they win them all that rare dream of winning all four available trophies this season gets one step closer.
"We need desire, mentality and excitement. You can’t buy that," said Klopp.
"We have played games before when we were 1-0 up and we were still running like mad. I want my players thinking in the right way.
"I don’t think about being better, I think about us being on top of our game. That’s the plan for all the games. You try to improve in general.
"We all know one failure, one little misstep, and at least one competition can be gone. That’s no problem for us, we’re just ready for the next challenge. We enjoy it. It is the situation we would have dreamed of."
Benfica vs Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk says that he and his Liverpool team want to make this season ‘unforgettable’ and that it "should not be taken for granted" what they have been achieved so far.
The Reds travel to Lisbon still in contention to win the quadruple this season having already won the Carabao Cup and sitting one point off Premier League leaders Manchester City, who they also take on in the FA Cup semi-finals.
"We just want to make this season an unforgettable one," said Van Dijk.
"If you said it at the start of the season that we would still be in all competitions at this stage, with a full squad, [we’d have taken it].
"We should just enjoy it, go to Lisbon and give it our all. If it’s not enough, we go again next season. The things that are going on at Liverpool should not be taken for granted."
Jurgen Klopp goes back to where it began to start defining period for Liverpool
Outside a Lisbon café about seven years ago, Jurgen Klopp’s phone rang and interrupted a family holiday. Normally he would have screened the call – “We were completely in a holiday mood,” the Liverpool manager remembered yesterday – but something told him that this was a conversation worth having.
Klopp was still enjoying an extended break following his departure from Borussia Dortmund at the time, but it was coming to the point where he would have to start seriously considering his next move.
“There were some rumours around, which we didn’t really follow, but with two sons they pick up pretty much everything. So, I knew from them that a couple of things could happen, and then we were sitting there and the phone rang. I didn’t take a lot of calls in this time, because with my family there why should I talk to anyone else?”
Jurgen Klopp goes back to where it began to start defining period for Liverpool
It was in Lisbon that Klopp was informed of Liverpool’s interest in making him head coach and where he now returns having taken the club back to the pinnacle of European football
Benfica vs Liverpool
Welcomes to The Independent’s coverage of Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final first leg with Benfica. Jurgen Klopp’s men are still on for an unprecedented quadruple after defeating Inter Milan in the last-16.
The Reds won the first leg of that tie 2-0 away from home before losing the next game 1-0 at Anfield and progressing on aggregate. That defeat is Liverpool’s only loss in 17 matches since a 0-0 draw with Arsenal back in January and the Reds won all 16 of the other games in that run.
With a potential Premier League title decider against Manchester City on Sunday, Jurgen Klopp will have to decide whether to try and get this quarter-final decided tonight with a big win at the Estadoi da Luz or to rest key players for Sunday and bring them back in for the second leg next week.
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