Díaz shines bright in the Stadium of Light
Benfica 1 Liverpool 3, 5th April 2022
BENFICA 1 (Núñez 49)
LIVERPOOL 3 (Konaté 17, Mané 34, Díaz 88)
The beautiful game of football is awash in clichés and I take every opportunity to employ them as I love the direct and unambiguous nature of the language. Tonight was the very epitome of a “game of two halves” as well as a game, and I’d argue an entire two legged tie, that was over and done with inside 34 minutes before a sloppy and disjointed Liverpool invited their Portuguese hosts back into the game and with a vague hope for the return tie in 8 days time.
Roared on by a noisy and partisan Estadio da luz (Stadium of Light) crowd, Benfica started strongly but faded almost immediately into the set pattern of the first half as a whole: Attack v Defence. Liverpool in their change colours of all yellow swarmed all over their red shirted opponents and the template was set for the first 45 minutes and a half of football almost exclusively dominated by headers. The impressive Naby Keïta and the not so impressive, or inspired, Mo Salah had shots that sandwiched a headed goal, and first ever goal for Liverpool, from Ibrahima Konaté, and a selfless header across goal from Luis Díaz that presented the simplest of tap in goals for his striker partner Sadio Mané. With 34 minutes on the clock, Liverpool had a commanding 2–0 lead away from home and the entire Quarter-Final tie seemed to be over as a contest.
After Konaté’s opening goal on 17 minutes Liverpool simply turned the screw and pressed the enthusiasm from their Portuguese hosts. The game simply evolved into press/counter press with Benfica dropping deeper into their own half and gifting the Reds in Yellow as much of the ball as they wished. Benfica’s only chance of the half came on 33 minutes and despite a minimal challenge, ex Manchester City defender Nicolás Otamendi should have done better with his free header on goal, and a header he glanced wide of Alisson Becker’s goal. As is so often the way with this current Liverpool team they scored almost immediately after they should themselves have conceded. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s ridiculous bending forward pass set Luis Díaz free and rather than going for goal with his header, he instead deftly squared the ball into the path of the on rushing Sadio Mané and Liverpool glided their way effortlessly into the half-time break 2–0 up and absolutely cruising.
I have no idea who the team in yellow were in the second half!
From calm, collected and utterly assured, the team as a whole had feet of clay for the opening 20 minutes of a second half that was entirely dominated by Benfica and with a little more luck, they could and should have been level with 25 minutes to go. Sloppiness, as the football cliche goes “creeps in” but it didn’t this evening. Liverpool started the second half dreadfully, with no grasp on the game at all and with even the simplest of passes going astray, and continually so. It was as disjointed as I’ve seen the team as a whole in many a long month of constantly winning football, and it was a shock to the system to see Ibrahima Konaté’s dreadful mistake that allowed Darwin Núñez to score easily on 49 minutes and just minutes later Brazilian midfielder Everton Soares forced a fine save from Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
The Estadio da luz was rocking in rhythm with a toppling Liverpool team.
Almost immediately, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp made a triple substitution with Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson and Diogo Jota replacing a subdued attacking duo of Mo Salah and Sadio Mané as well as a Thiago Alcântara who simply hadn’t started the second half at all. Now with skipper Henderson next to Fabinho in the heart of the team as well as the action, calm replaced the storm of earlier and Liverpool began to assert their dominance back over the cup tie again. There was only one team likely to score again and that team did so, deservedly, to take a priceless 3–1 lead into the second leg in 8 days time. Naby Keïta’s slide rule pass was deflected perfectly into the stride of Luis Díaz, who skipped past the on rushing challenge of Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos and tucked home a shot into an empty goal.
Player(s) of the match Naby Keïta and Trent Alexander-Arnold were both substituted with a minute or so to go before Henderson set Jota free on goal but for once the Reds Portuguese striker’s touch let him down and Odysseas Vlachodimos made a fine smothering save.
4–1 would not have flattered Liverpool at all this evening, but 3–1 is accepted with grateful hands and Red hearts and Red dreams of yet another European Cup Final appearance. They certainly have one foot in the Semi-Final and only a display on a par with the opening 15 minutes of the second half this evening will allow Benfica back into the two legged cup tie as a whole. Never say never, but this team continues to win games, and win “ugly” games, and important games, and games after games after games. It’s an incredible time to be watching this team, arguably approaching the zenith under the tutelage of Jürgen Klopp and as I’m childishly keen to reinforce at the end of every such article on the Mighty Reds of Liverpool: they are still in every competition they entered back in August.
They are also playing a brand of football, alongside their foes from Manchester City, that I never thought possible or achievable. They’re the two best club football teams in world football and they have at least two face to face showdowns before season’s end, and quite possibly a third meeting in Paris for the European Cup Final in May.
Sunday’s game between the two teams is huge. Then again, so is the exact same fixture a week after that.
Could there be a hat-trick of contests come Paris in May?
“Díaz shines bright in the Stadium of Light” can also be found moonlighting across pages 122 through 125, and chapter number 23 of Part 1 within my self-published book linked immediately below:
"Chasing the Impossible and a Sword of Damocles" - link to Amazon
"A final word from The Boss" - link to Amazon (see below)
Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.