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Already know the prize given to Liverpool after ensuring themselves qualify for the Champions League semifinals, last night? They got the killer team of two European giants in the last four!
A header from new defender Ibrahima Konate and two goals from Roberto Firmino were not enough to win them a win over Benfica, a Portuguese team who fought tenaciously and tirelessly in the Champions League quarter-final second leg at Anfield on Thursday morning ( 14/4).
Nelson Verissimo’s side hit back with three goals from Goncalo Ramos in the 32nd minute of the first half, before Roman Yaremchuk’s second goal in the 73rd minute and a third from star player Darwin Nunez 8 minutes from time. Final score draw 3-3, aggregate 6-4.
As a reward, in the semifinals the Reds will meet Villarreal, the team that eliminated Juventus and Bayern Munich in the previous two rounds.
The Reds took the lead over Benfica when Ibrahima Konate jumped the fastest and highest to head home a Kostas Tsimikas corner, which then bounced first to the ground before hitting Odysseas Vlachodimos’ goal.
It was the second goal of the new French defender who transferred in from RB Leipzig in July 2021, after his goal one week ago, also against Vlachodimos in the first leg of this quarter-final match, which ended with the score 1-3.
Unfortunately, Konate’s goal was equalized by Goncalo Ramos 11 minutes later, which made the score 4-2 on aggregate. Still for the Reds advantage, but the position of a two-goal advantage is not safe. Evidently they managed to equalize the score 3-3 and 6-4 on aggregate after the Reds had moved away with two goals from Firmino.
The Portuguese visitors lost in terms of ball dominance (63 to 37 percent), lost on tryouts (16 to 5) and lost also in terms of shots on target (5:4), but looked dangerous every time they attacked.
The number of dangerous attacks from Jordan Henderson and friends reached 23 times in 90 minutes, compared to just three times from Nelson Verissimo’s squad. But Benfica’s three attacks effectively ended in goal.
An attack from Darwin Nunez two minutes after Konate’s goal had managed to nest in Alisson Becker’s goal, but was canceled out by Serdar Gözübüyük, the Dutch referee. Nunez was clearly in an offside position when he received a pass.
Liverpool will act as the first team in the semi-final, meaning the first leg will be played at Anfield on 26 or 27 April 2022 and then away to Spain on 3 or 4 May. The LaLiga team under the tutelage of Unai Emery certainly can’t wait to be the butchers of another European giant.
Villarreal beat Juventus 4-1 on aggregate in the last 16, a 1-1 draw in Spain and a 0-3 win in Turin. El Submarino Amarillo then beat Bayern Munich 1-0 at home before drawing 1-1 at the Allianz Arena in the second leg of the quarter-finals.
What’s ironic is that Villarreal come from a small industrial town on Spain’s east coast of just 50,000 people, outnumbered by Die Roten’s 75,000-seat stadium.
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