Topic: CL:Liverpool 2 v FC Porto 0 Keita 4' Si Senor Bobby 26'

[jillcwhomever]

Venue: Anfield, Liverpool

Date: Tuesday 9 April 2019

Kick-off: 8.00 p.m. (BT Sport 3, Virgin Media, RTÉ 2)

Referee: Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

Assistants: Pau Cebrian (Spain), Roberto del Palomar (Spain)

VAR assistant: Gil Manzano (Spain)

Form (last six — all competitions):

Liverpool [DWWWWW]:

Everton (a) [0-0]; Burnley (h) 4-2; Bayern Munich (a) 3-1; Fulham (a) 2-1; Tottenham (h) 2-1; Southampton (a) 3-1

Porto [WWWWDW]:

Roma (h) 3-1 aet; Feirense (a) 2-1; Maritimo (h) 3-0; Braga (a) 3-2; Braga (a) 1-1; Boavista (h) 2-0

Top Goalscorers 2018/19 — all competitions

Liverpool:

Mohammed Salah (21); Sadio Mané (20); Roberto Firmino (14)

Porto:

Francisco ‘Tiquinho’ Soares (19); Moussa Marega (17); Yacine Brahimi (11)

Did you know?

— Liverpool are unbeaten against Porto in the clubs’ six competitive meetings, on an aggregate score of 12-2: under Gérard Houllier in 2001 (0-0, 2-0), Rafael Benítez in 2007 (1-1, 4-1) and Jürgen Klopp in 2018 (5-0, 0-0)

— Liverpool have won 10 of their 14 previous European Cup quarter-final ties, while Porto have won 2 of their 7

— Previous Portuguese opponents at this stage of the competition were dispatched 6-2 and 5-1 on aggregate as the Reds marched towards European glory in 1978 and 1984 respectively (Benfica on both occasions)

Introduction

Then




Now

And so another European semi-final beckons for Liverpool, a third in four years under Jürgen Klopp if it comes to that. Another layer of prestige, another potent dose of relevance waiting to be bestowed upon this football club of the most glittering global repute, and with it the chance to turn heads once again, to make the next Alisson Becker or Virgil Van Dijk think “yeah, I’ll have some of that please.” And I ask you, friends: who could blame them?

Alongside such considerations comes another chance for the likes of us, you and me, to be gloriously, genuinely happy. And anxious, of course, and furious at times, and terrified at others, and maybe even gutted if the unthinkable happens, but the whole purpose of supporting a football team is to arrive at moments like these, is it not? Don’t get me wrong: cheese rooms, micro-breweries, heated seats and bakeries in your gaffe are wonderful, just wonderful, but I’d wager few enough of us grew up with posters of such things plastered on our bedroom walls (and if you did, please feel free to explain why).

But big occasions under lights in April and May? A genuine hand in the winning of the only two competitions that truly matter in modern football, and the games coming thick and fast in both, swirling around before you like demented juggling balls aloft in the air? If gardening was your passion, this would be the equivalent of your roses starting to bloom, the moment celestial wonders like Venus or Mars first fill the lens of your telescope for those into astronomy, and so on. Breathe it in.

Get through this tie, and the possibilities are simply breathtaking: Barcelona and the greatest footballer of all-time visiting Anfield, in May of all months? Or perhaps the most important couple of games that the biggest, most decorated clubs in England have ever played against each other? And beyond that, yet another opportunity to win a sixth European Cup at the start of June and nudge the club ahead of legendary names like Barcelona and Bayern Munich on the competition’s roll of honour in the process?

Maybe soon, they’ll stop asking Jürgen whether all of this is worth the effort?

Standing in the way are Portuguese heavyweights FC Porto. Two-time European Cup-winners themselves (the 1987 Paulo Futre-inspired victory over Bayern in Vienna which included that famous backheeled equaliser from Algeria's 1982 World Cup hero Rabah Madjer, and the 2004 triumph against Monaco in Gelsenkirchen that gave manager Jose Mourinho the idea he was “special”, a delusion under which he labours to this day), more than Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham combined (sorry, I couldn’t resist). Thow in a couple of UEFA Cups, in 2003 and 2011, a European Super Cup in 1987 and a couple of Intercontinental Cups (1987 and 2004), and it’s safe to say that Liverpool are facing a club of significant pedigree.

With due regard and respect to the four goals Ajax scored against the reigning three-time champions in Madrid last time out, Porto were nonetheless apparently the team that the other seven clubs left in this competition wanted to draw in the quarter-finals, although the Liverpool manager has insisted that “Porto were not on my ‘wish list’”. And I won’t be a hypocrite: I wanted them too. I’m sure we all did, the only compelling rebuttal to that being perhaps the prospect of a spring trip to Amsterdam. And I’m sure we all would’ve been irritated beyond reason if one of the other English teams had drawn them instead, especially Manchester City, who have already been repeatedly aided in their quadruple quest this season by benevolent cup draws.

But the story goes that Liverpool have been “lucky”, which is more than a little ironic given that six of the Reds’ eight games in the 2018/19 Champions League to date have been against Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli and Bayern Munich. The club’s rivals for this season’s Premier League title, by contrast, have been making hay against (at the time of writing) a team 24 points behind PSG in France (Lyon), a couple of German sides 20 and 35 points respectively behind Bayern in the Bundesliga (Hoffenheim and Schalke), and the champions of the Ukraine. I know which route I’d prefer, notwithstanding their upcoming quarter-final tie with Spurs.

Speaking of Manchester City, one thing we can say for the Portuguese champions is this: regardless of the St. Valentine’s Day massacre that took place in the Estádio do Dragão on 14 February 2018, when the home side fell two goals behind by half-time and didn’t know whether to stick or twist after the break, making them perfect victims for the visitors’ ravenous counter-attack in the second half, they are unlikely to fare any worse than Liverpool’s opponents at this stage of this competition last season, who were 3-0 down and floundering after 31 minutes of the first-leg and ultimately succumbed 5-1 on aggregate, a virtually identical scoreline to the one suffered by Porto against the Reds in the previous round.

So yes, having stuck five past their quarter-final opponents last season, Liverpool justifiably enter this tie both with confidence and as strong favourites to progress. We should know better than most, however, that there are seldom any “easy” opponents left as the biggest prize in club football enters the month of April.

This is a competition where one of the most gifted club sides in my memory, Carlo Ancelotti’s AC Milan, coughed up a 3-0 half-time lead against a team of outsiders in the 2005 final, just over a year removed from similarly imploding in La Coruña as they watched a 4-1 first-leg lead slip away in their 2004 quarter-final against Deportivo. A few weeks before that magical night in Istanbul, Chelsea had rolled into Anfield for the second-leg of their semi-final sitting 33 points ahead of their opponents domestically and sporting a sign on their team bus that read “two down, one to go”. The only “one” they got that night was Luis Garcia’s winner. Barcelona went to Rome last season nursing a 4-1 lead and crashed out to a team that Liverpool would subsequently hit seven against in the semi-final. And the first side in the history of England’s top division to reach 100 points were humbled the same night by a team that eventually finished 25 points adrift of them domestically, a year on from conceding six against Monaco.

In other words, there’s a job to be done: no scope for complacency or one eye on the visit of Chelsea next Sunday. At the very least, Porto manager Sérgio Conceição has that recent, painful ordeal from last season to guide him. Indeed, bitter experience and lessons learned may very well be the biggest weapon in their arsenal for this tie because little has changed personnel-wise.

The Opponents
Porto, as we know, has long been a club that sells its stars once they have matured enough to become targets for predators higher in the food chain. They then invest the proceeds in talents of the future, often from South America, in particular Brazil, and the process starts again. They offload and rebuild about as skilfully as any club in the world, and have been able to maintain a consistent level of success across many years in the process. No cycle of “boom and bust” for them: instead, perennial domestic silverware as rivals like Benfica have waxed and waned (albeit their league title in May was their first for five years, and they haven’t won the cup since 2011), and regular interest in the knockout stages of European competition (now five years out of seven in the Champions League after Christmas).

This season has been a familiar story. Diogo Dalot and Ricardo Pereira were sold to Manchester United and Leicester City respectively over the summer, each for something in the region of £20m, and the question of whether that money was adequately reinvested in the team is perhaps best answered by the January return to the club of free agent Pepe, now 36, who has subsequently become a fixture in the starting line-up, including their three most important games of the season to date: the 1-2 mid-February defeat in Rome, the 1-2 home defeat to league title rivals Benfica at the start of March, and the 3-1 extra-time victory against Roma a few days later.

But it simply isn’t Porto’s style to replace departing stars with others of a similar stature: long is the list of big-money sales over the years (e.g. James Rodriguez, Hulk, Radamel Falcao, Andre Silva, Jackson Martinez, Danilo, Anderson, Eliaquim Mangala, Pepe, Ricardo Carvalho, Alex Sandro, João Moutinho, Ricardo Quaresma, etc.), yet their record arrival remains the £18m spent on Spaniard Óliver Torres in 2017. The latest example of this approach is 21 year-old Brazilian defender Éder Militão, who, having only arrived from São Paulo for £6m in August, is already on his way to Real Madrid in the summer for around £45m. Club captain Héctor Herrera and talismanic left-back Alex Telles could also be on their way to Madrid, albeit across town, with Atlético reportedly keen to spend a large chunk of their Lucas Hernandez windfall on the pair.

Liverpool’s opponents will, therefore, look very similar to the team Jürgen Klopp’s men dismantled in the last-sixteen a year ago, notwithstanding the inclusion of a £45m-rated defender in their ranks (I was going to say that it’s not every day you get to see a 21 year-old right/centre-back rated that highly, but let’s not forget that CIES Football Observatory valued Trent Alexander-Arnold at £84m earlier this season). The biggest question from a Porto point of view, then, must be whether they’ve learned the lessons of that 5-0 embarrassment on their home turf.

I won’t pretend to have watched them too much in the meantime, so maybe others who are more knowledgeable on the subject could illuminate us as to how they’ve been doing in the intervening 14 months or so? On paper, they currently sit three points clear at the top of the Primeira Liga on 69 points, albeit with a game more played than title rivals Benfica, but that doesn’t necessarily tell us much: you have to go all the way back to Sporting’s victory in 2002 to find the last time one of those two didn’t finish the season as Portuguese champions, and Porto were on their way to winning the Primeira Liga title even as Sadio Mané was plundering a hat-trick against them last February.

Their Champions League form may be more instructive. They won five out of six in finishing the group stage unbeaten, albeit against relatively weak opposition in Schalke (subsequently beaten 7-0 by City, of course, and currently sitting 14th of 18 teams in the Bundesliga), Galatasaray and Lokomotiv Moscow. They then found themselves 0-2 behind in Rome before salvaging a priceless away goal that set the scene for a dramatic evening back in Portugal, where they dispatched the Italians 3-1 after extra-time thanks to Telles’ 117th minute penalty.

Top scorers ‘Tiquinho’ Soares (19) and Moussa Marega (17) both notched goals on the night, and will look to provide Porto’s cutting-edge again versus Liverpool, as they attempted to do last season (both started the first-leg). Cameroon centre-forward Vincent Aboubakar, who has about a 1-in-2 strike rate since his arrival in Porto, missed the first-leg against Liverpool then, and he’ll be missing again this time around having suffered a cruciate ligament injury in September. There will, however, be a couple of new faces for Liverpool’s defence to contend with in comparison to last year. Fernando, a January arrival from the Azores, started alongside Soares in Rome, and Adrián Lopez, who didn’t feature against the Reds last season, came off the bench to bring it back to 2-1 on the night. Adrián also scored in the recent top-of-the-table clash with Benfica, so Conceição has plenty of options at his disposal upfront.

A former winger of some renown himself, of course, there is also plenty of threat evident from wide in his 4-4-2 formation, primarily in the form of Otávio, Yacine Brahimi, Jésus Corona and Telles. Away from home in the first leg of a Champions League quarter-final, at a ground where their hosts haven’t lost in European competition since a 0-3 defeat against Real Madrid in October 2014 (20 games unbeaten and counting) and are currently nursing the longest unbeaten home streak in Europe’s top five leagues (unbeaten in 38 Premier League games and counting since April 2017), and with the memory of that 5-0 destruction likely to be fresh in his mind, the obvious plan would be for Conceição to clip their wings a little bit on this occasion and give them a brief to drop deep and help their full-backs as his team feels their way into the tie.

However, in the absence through suspension of Andy Robertson, the temptation will surely be to target Liverpool’s stand-in left-back to some extent, be it Alberto Moreno or James Milner. Indeed, a case could be made that they’ll be missing a trick if they don’t do that, especially if it’s the ring-rusty, headstrong Spaniard; but then such an approach would involve leaving their young right-back looking after Liverpool’s most in-inform goalscorer by himself.

The Porto manager certainly has some difficult decisions to make. I will defer to others, who are more tactically astute than I, on what his approach is likely to be for this game, but from what I’ve read he seems to be a coach who typically favours an aggressive press from the front, a high defensive line behind (it will be interesting to see if that has changed since the ageing Pepe’s arrival) and tends towards the idealistic side of the spectrum. If that’s the case, then it’s by no means a given that he’ll come and seek to frustrate Liverpool as Leicester, West Ham, Manchester United, Everton and Bayern have done so successfully over the past two months.

That would be the smart play, though, and the one most likely to achieve a positive result to take back to Portugal, because high defensive lines typically don’t work at Anfield. Ask Pep Guardiola, who drastically altered his approach this season after watching his team cough up seven goals on their two visits in 2017/18. Ask Eusebio Di Francesco, whose players started so brightly last April but eventually wilted under wave after wave of Liverpool attacks as his defenders looked pleadingly to the bench for a change of approach.

Porto arrive in good form, goalscoring and otherwise, but with all due respect to their recent opponents, this is an entirely different challenge. Conceição started with two upfront in Rome alongside attacking wide players in Otávio and Brahimi, and we also have the evidence of last season where, instead of slowing the game down for 20 minutes at 0-2 and trying to take the sting out of their opponents and regroup in a tie that was very much still alive, Porto poured forward for a goal, leaving huge gaps for Liverpool to exploit. Was that brave? Perhaps. It was certainly naïve.

It’s very difficult to gauge anything from their last visit to Anfield — with the tie already effectively over, Klopp took the opportunity to rest players (e.g. Moreno and Lallana started, Ings came on, no Salah, Van Dijk or Robertson), while Porto changed virtually their entire team, and the result was a fairly tame 0-0 — but there’s enough evidence to suggest that they might have a go on Tuesday, perhaps as Roma did in the first-leg of the semi-final last season. It would certainly be a risk to approach the game at Anfield like that, and it returns us to the concept of experience and whether Conceição has learned from what happened in the first-leg against Liverpool last season.

Perhaps the most fascinating area over the two legs will be their defensive third. Get it right there, and they’ll have a chance. Get it wrong, and it could get very ugly for them.

Let’s start with the fact that goalkeeper Iker Casillas turns 38 in May and in front of him is the famously irascible, now 36 year-old, Pepe. Ten years ago they were both on duty as Real Madrid were put so mercilessly to the sword at Anfield that PTSD will surely come into play if the home side (and crowd) start like they did that night. Pepe’s evening was arguably the worse of the two (e.g. he collapsed under minimal contact from Fernando Torres in the move leading to Liverpool’s incendiary opener, only to realise that the referee wasn’t playing along), but it was club legend Casillas who finished the night in tears despite keeping the red tide at bay in as fine an exhibition of shot-stopping as you will ever see.

Real is a club that carries itself with such a mighty sense of importance that 4-0 must indeed have seemed like a humiliation, but 7-0 or 8-0 was within easy reach had it not been for their goalkeeper’s performance that night. Perhaps in remembrance, the Kop gave the man a warm reception as he walked towards the goal at the start of the second-half last season to keep what was his 56th clean-sheet in this competition, a record.

Alongside these two veterans nearing retirement, there is the other end of the spectrum: Militão, about to take the same route that Pepe once did in swapping north-west Portugal for the Santiago Bernabéu in a big-money transfer. If he enjoys the same level of success in Madrid as his current teammate did (i.e. ten years, lashings of silverware) then he’ll obviously do just fine, but the more immediate task facing him is how to stop a Senegalese livewire in the form of his life this Tuesday evening.

Given how green he is at this level, his future employers will no doubt be watching and hoping that the experience is the making of him, but the task ahead of the young man is likely to be significant. Ten years ago, Pepe ran headlong into Torres at the peak of his powers, all pace, strength and attitude, showing the red and white stripes on his arms to the Real fans with a snarl and a punch of the air after opening the scoring. His Liverpool career ended on a series of bum notes, but in March 2009 he was conducting his own beautiful symphony in a place where he still wanted and needed to be.

It may not be the case across these two legs — Mané has been inconsistent in the past — but recent evidence (11 in his last 13 for Liverpool, dropping to his knees with joy after Milner’s recent winner at Craven Cottage) suggests that Liverpool’s number ten is currently experiencing a similar period of spiritual and professional contentment at Anfield. The one saving grace, and potential equaliser, for Militão and his teammates is the absence of Robertson’s sniping forays down that side, a player with whom Mané has forged an excellent understanding over the past season and a half.

Key Player: Alex Telles
Defensive lynchpin Felipe and attacking left-back Telles complete a 100% Brazilian-born back-four. Reports from Portugal indicate that Telles will be fit for this one, having collapsed in agony with an apparent hip injury in the process of scoring a penalty in a league game against Braga last Saturday week. At face value, that’s a huge boost for Liverpool’s opponents: Telles has been a virtual ever-present this season, having started their eight Champions League fixtures and all 27 league games until his freak injury. But whether he has recovered sufficiently to chase Mo Salah for 90 minutes, his goal drought now well and truly ended by that phenomenal run and finish at St. Mary’s on Friday, is a different matter entirely.

Assuming Telles does play, it will be interesting to see how much scope (rope?) he will be given by his manager to attack at Anfield, considering both the injury and his immediate opponent on the pitch. From this vantage point, certainly, the prospect of a left-back being allowed to bomb forward and leave Salah to his own devices, even for seconds at a time, seems ludicrous. There is a case to be made that Mané’s rich goalscoring form has been facilitated by teams beefing up their attentions on Salah, the most extreme form of the “pick your poison” principle I can ever imagine and possibly a contributing factor to the player’s own dwindling goalscoring return of late.

However, not only is Telles his side’s (very reliable) penalty taker, he is also one of their most important offensive playmakers. A quick statistical comparison with his counterpart at Anfield illustrates this. Robertson’s assist tally is more impressive, particularly given the higher standard of Premier League opponents, but there isn’t a million miles between them. It’s 8 assists in 35 league and European games for Telles (23% of games) vs. 11 in 39 for Robertson (28%). The comparison on the percentage of their team’s goals they have assisted is closer, however, with Robertson registering 11 assists on Liverpool’s 84 goals in the league and Europe this season (so approximately 13% of his side’s goals) vs. 9 assists on 73 for Telles (12%).

So, given that Telles is normally a key part of Porto’s offensive play, does Conceição dispense with that entirely in the hopes of curtailing the Egyptian, assuming his mind isn’t made up for him by his player’s injury? Or does he allow Telles some freedom to attack, perhaps with one eye on Salah’s diminished numbers since the turn of the year? Again, for this game at least, I think the smart approach is the more cautious one. I have no doubt that Trent, perhaps with someone like Gini Wijnaldum providing cover, could handle whatever Telles could throw at him down that side regardless, whereas Porto must be a lot more careful with Salah.

Elsewhere, captain Herrera is a certain starter in the middle. The engine of the side, and also the lynchpin of the Mexican national team, he’ll do a bit of everything. Danilo Pereira will more than likely hold alongside him. If Conceição wanted to change things up, he could start Torres as an extra midfielder with one upfront, but that doesn’t seem to be his typical approach.

The Reds
For Liverpool, the midfield selection would appear to be the only real unknown. With too many currently either not sufficiently match-sharp (Gomez, Lovren, Oxlade-Chamberlain), out of favour with the manager (Shaqiri), suspended (Robertson) or perhaps not of sufficient quality to dislodge those ahead of them in the team (Origi, Sturridge), as many as seven players are virtually certain to start Liverpool’s assault on a semi-final showdown with either Barcelona or Manchester United: Alisson, Trent, Matip, Virgil, Mané, Firmino and Salah, while it’s a straightforward toss-up between Moreno and Milner at left-back.

After that, it’s three from Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Milner, Gini Wijnaldum, Naby Keita and Adam Lallana (assuming he has recovered from injury) to line up in the middle, something of an embarrassment of riches and in stark contrast to how the team finished last season, reduced to bringing on a half-fit Lallana in a Champions League final.

Fabinho was left on the bench in Munich and against Spurs, and was off the pace in the first-half on Friday, much like the rest of his teammates. He was rejuvenated in the second-half, especially with the introduction of Henderson, whose more advanced role recalled 2013/14 and allowed him to get into the box for the game-clinching third, the captain’s first goal of the season. Despite this, it's probably more likely that the two remain rivals for the midfield anchor position rather than lining up alongside each other, especially at home.

Of the candidates who might be picked to provide an offensive threat from deep and link with the front three, Lallana had leapt to the front of that queue in recent weeks ahead of Shaqiri and Keita, thanks to the former’s recent fall out of favour, the latter’s fitness issues and the manager’s own faith in him. A minor muscle injury meant that Naby got his chance on Friday and, despite his part in a poor first-half display from the team against Southampton, you would have to say that he probably did enough to keep himself well in the frame for Porto. His equalising goal was crucial, of course, and he lasted virtually the entire 90, which has not always been the case for him. Furthermore, as against Leicester, he drove into the box and was denied a clear second-half penalty, a reminder of what he is capable of bringing to the team.

We could, of course, see the tried (and very much trusted, by the manager certainly) unit of Milner, Henderson and Gini on Tuesday, but there are certain complications which may make that prospect a non-runner. For starters, it would automatically necessitate the inclusion of Moreno at left-back, a player who has only started four games this season. Given Milner’s second-half introduction and excellent shift at right-back on Friday, you would have to imagine (and in my case, at least, hope) that heֺ’ll be the one chosen to deputise for Robertson against Porto. Additionally, Gini’s tired performance at St. Mary’s has taken him from being an automatic inclusion to looking like he badly needs a rest ahead of Chelsea’s visit on Sunday.

So then, a lot of options. My own preference would probably be to start with the midfield that played the final half-hour against Southampton (Fabinho, Henderson and Keita). That selection wouldn’t be without its risks, not least the fact that it would require changing Hendo’s position for such a crucial game, but it got the job done on Friday and potentially deserves the chance to do it again. I certainly don’t want Milner in there if it means a start for Moreno elsewhere. Ultimately, I think a lot depends on Gini: was Southampton just an off-night, or does he genuinely need a rest? If it’s the latter, then the options would appear to narrow to three from Hendo, Fabinho, Keita and Lallana.

Prediction
Overall, Liverpool have far more quality in their ranks than Porto and should give themselves a good foundation on Tuesday night to finish the job in Portugal. However, there are three factors that could potentially complicate matters:

1. Robertson’s absence.
The Reds, having conceded just 10 goals in their opening 22 league games, have now regressed to 10 in their last 11. It’s still a good record, of course, but things admittedly haven’t looked quite as secure back there since Crystal Palace came and hit three at Anfield in January. In the group stages of this competition, meanwhile, it was 7 in 6. Disruption due to injuries has undoubtedly played a part since Christmas, with Gomez (crucially), Lovren and Trent all missing games, and the absence of the Premier League’s best left-back has to be a worry in that context. It may be fortuitous that his needless suspension comes against one of the weaker teams left in the competition, but Porto are nonetheless capable of capitalising.

I would say that this is especially true if Moreno is thrown into the fray cold, having started only four games all season. The one thing I’ll say with total confidence about this game, and with all the usual caveats about Klopp knowing more about football and his players than I ever will, is that Keita, Lallana and Shaqiri are all better equipped to make a positve contribution to Liverpool’s cause deputising for Milner in midfield than Moreno is starting at left-back.

2. Concentration.
Complacency is unlikely to be a factor given the magnitude of the occasion, but lapses in concentration could be. We’ve seen Liverpool as sloppy as they’ve been all season against Fulham and Spurs recently, where four points could have easily been dropped had it not been for howlers by opposition goalkeepers, and the first-half against Southampton on Friday was alarmingly poor. If the home side continues to make games more difficult than they need to be, if they give away possession cheaply, if their offensive passing is laboured and slow, then Porto will hang around in this tie. And with all due respect to the lad, and based solely on past evidence, if Moreno starts then the likelihood of a player in red switching off or making a mistake increases significantly.

3. Poor finishing.
An intermittent problem for Liverpool already this season has been wasteful finishing. Given what was at stake and the potential importance of goal difference to the outcome, it’s hard to find a better example than Liverpool’s crucial home game with Napoli in December, where Alisson’s late save from Milik should have been academic based on chances alone but was instead monumental. Spurs at Wembley in September is another good example, where the home side should have had a penalty and a chance to make it 2-2 right at the end after a game in which the Reds had battered them from pillar to post everywhere but the scoreboard. Salah’s poor recent form in front of goal, hopefully behind him after Friday, and accompanying willingness to shoot from Cairo is a worry in this context.

Nonetheless, any stumbles in Europe this season have come away from Anfield: in four games at home, Liverpool have scored eight and conceded two. Those averages say 2-1, but I don’t see Porto scoring on Tuesday, so I’m going for a 2-0 Liverpool win. More goals would be better, of course, and would enable the manager some scope to shuffle his pack for the trip to Portugal in between the Chelsea and Cardiff games, but I have to believe that Porto will be once bitten, twice shy, and approach this one with caution.

If they come to play and try to bloody Liverpool’s nose from the start, however, then they could be in for a long night. As Steven Gerrard once said of opponents lining up 2-on-2 at the back versus Luis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge in their pomp, “all the best”. Good, compact defensive organisation, coupled with a few of those aforementioned issues for Liverpool coming to pass, are their best hopes of keeping this one alive heading back to Portugal on the 17th, and I think that’s what we’ll see.

In summary, the Reds will need to put in a good shift as they continue to chase the same double that Manchester City really crave beneath the sheen of their quest for a historic quadruple that is compressing their season like a Coca-Cola can under the heel of a boot. Five league games left, and maybe, just maybe, five Champions League games as well. Ten cup finals, and the best compliment I can give this team is that I wouldn’t put it past them. Not one little bit.

[jillcwhomever]

[TepidT2O]

Casillas, Maxi, Felipe, Militão, Alex Telles, Corona, Danilo, Óliver, Otávio, Marega e Soares

[TepidT2O]

Sorry about he first quarter of the game folks.

I’m on coms and I’m cursed

[TepidT2O]

Allez Allez Allez...

[jillcwhomever]

Anfield looks fantastic tonight.

[TepidT2O]

0 and Porto get us underway in this CL quarter final as they attack the kop

[TepidT2O]

3 cross form the right by Porto, a shot is snapped in from 15 yards, but it’s well wide.

[jillcwhomever]

Porto have settled really quickly into the game.

[TepidT2O]

4 pass from Firmino across the area.

Keita shoots and it’s deflected into the net.  The keeper had no chance


1-0

[TepidT2O]

5 nice long pass finds Bobby in the area.

It comes down and he crosses to Mo but it’s over him.. might have been better to hit it first time.

[TepidT2O]

9 Keita nicks the ball in midfield. His chipped pass over the top is just ahead of Mo

[TepidT2O]

12 Mo free down the right, his cross is narrowly defended for the on rushing Hendo.

[jillcwhomever]

Hendo is pressing impressively.

[TepidT2O]

14 every ball forward is is a chipped ball over the top or down the side of their defence.  Causing them all sorts of problems at the moment and then Mo goes down the right after another ball and wins a corner in front of the lower Kenny, and it’s headed clear allowing Porto to break at speed.

And on the edge of our area Mo Salah clears up in the left back position


Bravo.

[Rush 82]

Superb defending by Mo

[TepidT2O]

16 a lovely touch from Marega plays Suárez in down the right of our area.

He crossed to Marega who puts it behind for a goal kick.

Then Keita squares to Salah on the edge of their area.  His snap shot forces the keeper to dive and save well.

[Rush 82]

Porto are playing at full throttle - can they maintain this pace

[jillcwhomever]

It was a very nice move by Porto that and a warning to us about losing the ball in dangerous areas.

[TepidT2O]

20 A cross form the left by Suárez is cleared by Milner in the area.

[TepidT2O]

21 suddenly Mo is clear, the defender gets back and he brushes him off. He passes it towards the far post. and it’s just wide...

So close to 2-0

[TepidT2O]

Over to Jill

[jillcwhomever]

It came again from us losing the ball in our area, Bobby was a little careless. They have some really quick players when they break.

[Rush 82]

The slightest hesitation from him - of he rounds the keeper he walks that in.

So so close

[jillcwhomever]

22' We are building steadily from the back, Milner receives the ball we push it forward and for a second there was half a chance, but Porto just got away with it.

[TepidT2O]

City have missed a penalty against spurs.

[jillcwhomever]

24 A bit of a misunderstanding there between Trent and Hendo, Trent's ball catching the captain out and it goes to a throw in to Porto.

[Rush 82]

Hee Hee Hee

[jillcwhomever]

22 Gooooaaaallll Bobby scored after Hendo did a gorgeous through ball and Bobby just tapped it in. It's gone to VAR though. Goal rightly stands, lovely stuff.

[TepidT2O]

Si Señor

Clearly onside.


Absolutely brilliant pass by Hendo and a brilliant run down the right by TAA

[Rush 82]

Si Señor

Si!

[jillcwhomever]

27 We are just having a bit of possession, passing the ball around, Porto cannot get into it at the moment.

[TepidT2O]

Porto are having problems here.

They’re trying to keep it really tight and press us to death.

We’re just pinging the ball over the top and causing them huge problems with our pace in behind.

[Rush 82]

Fantastic 1 on 1 save by Alisson

[jillcwhomever]

29 A lot to say. Fantastic initial save by Alisson with his foot we cleared for a corner but they took it to VAR for a possible hand ball. It was turned down, then Porto get aother chance which they really should have scored with.

[jillcwhomever]

32 A bit of a frantic exchange there between Milner and one of the Porto players who ends up at Kloppo's feet. 

[Rush 82]

Porto haven't given up at all - they are pushing as hard as ever

[jillcwhomever]

33 So close to number three. A lovely move started by Keita who swept a ball to Hendo who was flying through the middle and passed a lovely pass to Bobby but we couldn't score.

[TepidT2O]

29 A lot to say. Fantastic initial save by Alisson with his foot we cleared for a corner but they took it to VAR for a possible hand ball. It was turned down, then Porto get aother chance which they really should have scored with.

Never a penalty. The ball was deflected about two feet form his arm.

But VAR clears up nothing.  I half expected them to give it.

Mind you it might have been out of play at that point anyway.

[NYCRedsFan]

There's still a game and a half to play... far from over, but 2-0 is lovely stuff