Liverpool have secured a great starting position in Lisbon to make it to the last four of the Champions League. The team of captain Virgil van Dijk won 3-1 at Benfica, responsible for the elimination of Ajax in the previous round.
Liverpool led 2-0 after more than half an hour after goals from defender Ibrahima Konaté and Sadio Mane. Konaté headed in from a corner, Mané simply tapped after Luis Díaz had put the ball wide.
Where Benfica was powerless before the break, Portugal’s number 3 showed itself much stronger in the second half. Darwin Núñez took the 1-2 shortly after the break, but the equalizer was not possible – as happened in the home game against Ajax (2-2). Díaz even made it 1-3 in the 87th minute by rounding the keeper and hitting the target.
Van Dijk
Van Dijk, who formed a duo with Konaté in the center of the defense, played the entire game.
The return, at Anfield, is next Wednesday.