Already evident in the first leg in the 3-1 victory at Lisbon in the first leg, the superiority of the Reds was again blatant despite the final equality and a much revised eleven.

Between two confrontations with Manchester City, one in the league (2-2) on Sunday and the other in the FA Cup semi-final next Saturday, Jürgen Klopp's men are juggling their goals and this match seemed like an opportunity to spin.

With a Joel Matip-Ibrahima Konaté hinge, flanked by Kostas Tsimikas and Joe Gomez, and Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané on the bench at kick-off, the priority of the week given to the Premier League was visible.

The three goals conceded, however, suggest that this choice was not very wise.

If the goal of Gonçalo Ramos (1-1, 32nd is due to an involuntary back pass from James Milner, the other two, from the Ukrainian Roman Yaremchuk (3-2, 73rd) and Darwin Nunez (3-3, 82nd ), are due to alignment errors.

Benfica striker Darwin Nunez after his goal against Liverpool in the Champions League, April 13, 2022 at Anfield Paul ELLIS AFP

However, we cannot say that Liverpool shook a lot during this match, nor over the whole confrontation.

With an attack line made up of Roberto Firmino, surrounded by Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota, the offensive power of the locals remained very consistent and was enough to ensure qualification.

As in the first leg, Konaté opened the scoring with a header and a corner (1-0, 21st).

In the second half, Firmino converted, at the far post, two offerings from Diogo Jota (2-1, 55th) and Tsimikas (3-1, 65th) to put the Reds in a very comfortable position.

There was indeed a goal by Nunez in added time invalidated by the VAR and which would have offered a prestigious success to the Portuguese, but it is the club from the banks of the Mersey which enters the last four on all the two matches.

He will face the Spanish club Villarreal who created the surprise by leaving Bayern Munich (1-0, 1-1), while the other half will face Real Madrid and Manchester City.

However, Liverpool also have their eyes on other trophies, with the Premier League where they are only a point behind the Citizens with 7 games to play, and the FA Cup.

Already winner of the League Cup at the end of February, the Reds are chasing an unprecedented quadruple but which leaves them no room for manoeuvre.

© 2022 AFP