When in excellent shape, Liverpool are hoping to get closer to the Champions League semi-finals. The Mighty Reds are currently hosted at Benfica’s Stadium of Light for the first game of the quarter-finals, just over a week before the rematch at Anfield while in the middle expecting Jurgen Klopp and his players to also play this season’s Premier League game against Manchester City.
Liverpool, who are counting four consecutive victories with a goal difference of 0: 7, qualified for the quarterfinals despite a 1: 0 loss to Inter in the rematch of the eighth thanks to the 0: 2 from the first game at San Siro. Klopp has a full squad available after Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander Arnold and Joel Matip have recovered from their injuries.
The one who knows Benfica best in Liverpool is of course Luis Diaz who played in Porto before moving to the Merseysiders at the end of January. He even tried to volunteer details about the opponent and Klopp said of it: “He tried to give me tips for 10 minutes, but I did not understand a word of what he said.” The Liverpool scouts, most likely, did a slightly better job than the Colombian acquisition.
Benfica, on the other hand, advanced to the quarterfinals after 2: 3 in the double encounter over Ajax with a 0: 1 rematch from a goal by Darwin Nunes. The Portuguese are missing Rodrigo Pinio and Lucas Verissimo, and they will have to be careful, as their seven players are yellow from suspension, including Nicolas Otamandi.