Doha (AFP)

Liverpool defeated the Mexicans of Monterrey (2-1) Wednesday in the semi-final of the Club World Cup organized in Doha (Qatar) and will face the Flamengo Brazilians on Saturday in a remake of the 1981 final for the intercontinental title.

Naby Keïta (12th) and Roberto Firmino (90th + 1) allowed the Reds to win against a team from Monterrey, led by Argentinian Rogelio Funes Mori, opportunistic scorer in the first period (14th). In the final, Liverpool will try to win the first planetary title in its history after three failures.

With a largely altered starting lineup (Lovren, Fabinho, Matip, Wijnaldum injured, Mané, Firmino and van Dijk on the bench), Liverpool largely relied on their star Mohamed Salah.

In the first half, the Egyptian ideally found Naby Keïta between the Mexican defenders who concluded with the right foot flush with the post of Barovero (12th).

Then in additional time, on the right side, he found Milner whose center was taken over by incoming Firmino (90 + 1) and ensure qualification for the Reds.

Argentinian Rogelio Funi Moris, already a goalscorer on Saturday against Al-Sadd (3-1) in the quarterfinals, had meanwhile equalized for the "Rayados" by taking a ball released by Alisson (14th).

Faced with an insane calendar, Jürgen Klopp had decided Wednesday to assume a strong choice in the priorities of the club: to give themselves the best chances to win this Club World Cup rather than the English League Cup.

That's why Liverpool had aligned the youngest eleven in their history on the lawn of Aston Villa (5-0 defeat), Tuesday, in the quarter-finals of the League Cup.

The English will want to finish their superb 2019 year on Saturday in the most beautiful way, by winning an intercontinental title that has always eluded them. Three times (1981, 1984, 2005), the Reds lost in the final.

They will face the Brazilians of Flamengo, who had beaten the Saudi club Al-Hilal (3-1) on Tuesday and who will aim for the 2nd planetary title in their history after a victory in 1981 in the Intercontinental Cup, the ancestor of the World Cup clubs ... facing Liverpool.

The match for 3rd place will oppose Monterrey to Al-Hilal, also on Saturday.

Result of the semi-finals:

Tuesday:

Flamengo (BRA) - Al-Hilal (KSA) 3 - 1

Wednesday:

Monterrey (MEX) - Liverpool (ENG) 1 - 2

Saturday (in GMT hours):

(2.30 p.m.) Third place match: Monterrey (MEX) - ES Tunis (TUN)

(5.30 p.m.) Final: Liverpool (ENG) - Flamengo (BRA)

© 2019 AFP