Luis Diaz shines for his return to Portugal and makes Gilberto dizzy in a crazy match, find the tops and flops of Benfica-Liverpool (1-3).
TOPS
Luis Diaz inevitable tonight
The Colombian striker was back in Portugal for the first time since joining Liverpool last winter. The former FC Porto player was keen to hurt his enemy: Benfica Lisbon. Aligned on the left side, number 23 actually hurt the Lisbon people very much (1-3). He did not succeed in everything but showed himself available, shot four times and won all his aerial duels. A fine illustration of the physical dimension of the 25-year-old striker. His header for Sadio Mané’s goal is perfectly executed and his goal at the end of the match does a lot of good for the Reds who needed this goal to return to England without too much doubt. A high quality match, therefore for Luis Diaz who scores points and will undoubtedly have an important role in the end of the Liverpool season.
Darwin Núñez has again burst the screen
He had offered qualification to Benfica in the round of 16 against Ajax thanks to his goal. Tonight, Darwin Núñez is sowing seeds of hope in the minds of his teammates and the fans of the Portuguese club. Rare spark in the first period for Benfica, we saw him shopping, defensive returns and going to duel with Liverpool defenders. With his good mentality he proved that it was possible to make the Reds doubt and took full advantage of Konaté’s error in the 49th minute. Tonight, he managed his four dribbles of the evening and offered two key assists to his teammates. His main axis of progression is perhaps his realism in front of goal, he must be even more sharp in the last gesture. At 22, he scored his 5th goal of the season in the Champions League tonight and hinted at immense potential.
Read alsoChampions League: Liverpool do the job at Benfica and see the semis
FLOPS
Gilberto in the hard against Luis Diaz
His very average match illustrates the good performance of Luis Diaz. Aligned on the left side, Gilberto had a lot of trouble channeling the offensives of the Colombian and Andy Robertson. Dominated in the areas, he only won 2 of his 5 aerial duels in the evening, it’s a little better on the ground (14/22). Offensively it’s more complicated, his presence in the Portuguese assaults would have been good but it happened too few times and that’s a shame.
Mohamed Salah, we expect better from him
The Egyptian striker is not often in the “FLOPS” but tonight we are entitled to expect more from him. Not sharp enough, he never really gained momentum, lost most of his duels (5/7), missed his two crosses (0/2) and came up against the excellent Vlachodimos. Back from selection with Egypt where he failed to obtain his ticket for the World Cup in Qatar, the Liverpool number 11 is a little more discreet than usual and probably needs a little time to swallow this new failure with his country after the defeat in the CAN 2021 final. Jürgen Klopp undoubtedly sensed it and replaced him with Jota in the 67th minute. Do not panic, the pharaoh will have the opportunity to recover on Sunday against … Manchester City!