Two Roberto Firmino goals set Liverpool on course for the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, but the Reds were made to work to the end as Benfica pulled two back.
Liverpool will line up in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals for the third time in five seasons after Roberto Firmino’s second-half double all but wrapped up an aggregate triumph before Benfica hit back to remove some of the gloss. Next up: Villarreal.
Key moments
21′ Konaté heads in his second of the tie
32′ Gonçalo Ramos gives Benfica hope
55′ Firmino restores Liverpool cushion
65′ Brazilian with another far-post tap-in
73′ Benfica sub Yaremchuk pulls one back
82′ Darwin coolly makes it 3-3 on night
83′ Alisson’s fine stop denies Darwin
Match in brief: Reds hold off late charge.
A much-changed Liverpool side were slow to get into this quarter-final second leg, but looked almost home and dry when Ibrahima Konaté headed in his second goal of the tie midway through the first half.
The Reds sought to make sure, with Benfica struggling to contain them at times, but the visitors weathered the storm and hit back when Gonçalo Ramos made the most of a fortuitous ricochet.
Liverpool regained control, even if nerves still jangled faintly until Firmino twice tapped in at the far post in the space of 11 second-half minutes. The Reds led 6-2 on aggregate – surely they were done now?
Still, Benfica delighted the travelling fans by staging a fine recovery to draw on the night, Roman Yaremchuk and Darwin Núñez pulling it back to 6-4 before it took a fantastic save from Alisson Becker to deny Darwin another. Liverpool had already done the hard work, though.
Matt Howarth, Liverpool reporter
There were one or two nervous murmurs spreading among the home supporters at various stages of the second half – with the score at 1-1 and again at 3-3 – but Benfica, despite giving an excellent account of themselves, had too big a mountain to climb. The Reds confirmed their last-four spot with relative ease on a night when Jürgen Klopp was able to rest several first-team regulars.
Carlos Machado, Benfica reporter
Benfica were much more competitive against an admittedly weakened Liverpool line-up, giving the home side a few things to think about, but ultimately the English side were just a class above. A couple of the goals the Eagles conceded were self-inflicted, but still they battled back to make it 3-3 and it took a tremendous save from Alisson Becker to deny them a fourth.
