« on: April 5, 2022, 06:51:46 pm »
Benfica vs Liverpool20:00, Tuesday 5th April
Estádio de Luz, Benfica
UEFA Champions League – Quarter Final, First Leg
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
A pivotal April continues apace for Liverpool this week – the final international break of the season it out of the way, victory over Watford has seen Jurgen Klopp’s side maintain the pace near the top of the Premier League, and the month brings league matches against Manchester City, Manchester United, Everton, and Newcastle United, an FA Cup Semi Final with City, and this Champions League Quarter Final double-header with Benfica.
Benfica and Liverpool have met competitively on ten occasions over the years, with Liverpool victorious on their way to European Cup wins in 1977-78 & 1983-84, and on their way to the 1984-85 Final. Benfica successfully eliminated their opponents – the holders of course – at the Round of 16 stage in 2005-06, with Liverpool later proving victorious over two legs of the Europa League Quarter Final four years later. Former Liverpool great, Graeme Souness – who captained Liverpool in the Quarter Final Second Leg against Benfica in 1983-84 – had a near two-season spell managing the Portuguese club, finishing 2nd & 3rd in 1998 & 1999 respectively. Souness took a number of his former Liverpool colleagues to Lisbon during his time there, with Steve Harkness, Dean Saunders, and Michael Thomas all joining him – Lazar Markovic and Abel Xavier both also spent time with Benfica early in their careers, before later representing Liverpool for short spells.
Benfica won back-to-back European Cups in 1960-61 & ’61-’62, and have reached a further five finals (most recently in 1989-90). Benfica’s five Primeira Liga titles in the last ten years have been more representative of their dominant 1960s-90s heyday, rather than the relatively fallow ‘90s & ‘00s, though they’ve struggled to convert this to the modern European stage. They’ve qualified for the Champions League on the last eleven occasions, with their year being only their third visit to the Quarter Finals in that time – most success was found in 2012-13 & 2013-14: despite dropping down to the Europa League following the Champions League Group Stages, they reached the Final on both occasions (losing to Chelsea and Sevilla). Six-times winners have of course been more successful of late, reaching the 2017-18 Final and lifting the trophy a year later.
Benfica lost their playoff with PAOK to fail to qualify for last season’s Champions League – they came second to Rangers in a Europa League group also featuring Standard Liege and Lech Poznan, before being eliminated in the Round of 32 by Arsenal. Fairing much better this season, they qualified via victory over Spartak Moscow, came second to Bayern Munich in a group also featuring Barcelona and Dynamo Kyiv, and beat Ajax over two legs in the Round of 16. Liverpool, of course, fell to Real Madrid at this very stage last season, but won all group games against Atletico Madrid, Porto, and Milan this campaign, and progressed to the Quarters courtesy of a 2-1 aggregate win over Internazionale. The eventual winners of this Quarter Final match-up will of course eventually meet either Villarreal or Bayern in the Semi Final – Benfica last reached the Quarters in 2015-16 (losing out to Bayern), but haven’t progressed to the Semi Finals since finishing runners-up to Milan in 1990.
There’s been a sense of relative instability at Benfica since Jorge Jesus’ six reasonably successful seasons in charge came to an end in 2015, but As Águias (The Eagles) continue to compete at the sharp end. Rui Vitoria won two league titles in his three and a half seasons in charge, with Bruno Lage replacing him midway through 2018-19 and delivering a title that very season. Jorge Jesus was reappointed following Lage’s departure in 2020, but Benfica finished 9 points off the pace in 3rd last season and Jesus left again at the end of December – departing by mutual consent, Jesus cited wishing to be “a solution and not a problem” as his reason for leaving. B-team manager Nélson Veríssimo has again taken the caretaker role – over the three months since, however, his Benfica side have lost the League Cup final to city rivals Sporting and lost further group to Sporting & leaders Porto in the Primeira Liga.
Beaten in the League Cup Final, out of the Portuguese Cup, and looking a very strong bet for 3rd in the Primeira Liga, it seems the continuation of Benfica’s season in a competitive sese rather hinges upon this Champions League tie with Liverpool – it’s something of a free hit for them, given that the Quarter Finals are relatively unfamiliar territory for them in recent years and that the club appear to be at something of a crossroads as they approach the summer. Experienced defensive duo Jan Vertonghen & Nicolas Otamendi know all about Liverpool from their time with Spurs & City, respectively, whilst midfielder Rafa Silva and forward Darwin Nunez tend to provide the goal threats – former Spurs, QPR, and Fulham midfielder Adel Taarabt, meanwhile, will be something of a blast from the past for Liverpool fans.
It's remarkable when considered out of context, to think that this first leg is one of the lower-pressure of Liverpool’s matches this month – the Premier League title race is so close that every league game feels like a ‘cup final’ however, and this is the only match this month that offers a ‘second chance’ in the shape of a second leg. Klopp and his side have shown their ability to balance competing priorities well this season though – this month’s fixtures and the League Cup already being at Anfield are testament to this – and there’ll be a determination to approach the tie professionally and ease the pressure on both matches with Benfica. Neither Sadio Mane or Mohamed Salah were on the scoresheet against Watford, following their World Cup qualification meetings during the last fortnight, and both will be hungry to add to their impressive tallies for the season. Luis Diaz, meanwhile – rested at the weekend following travels with Colombia – already has a goal (and a red card!) against Benfica to his name (a late goal to secure a 2-0 win for Porto in last season’s Portuguese Supertaça, and will no doubt be looking forward to facing familiar opposition.
« Last Edit: April 5, 2022, 09:45:45 pm by TepidT2O »
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