.jpg "Firmino Doubles as Liverpool drew 3-3 against stubborn Benfica side to go through to the Champions League semi-final stage.") |
| Firmino'doubles as Liverpool Move to the next semi-final stage of the Champions league. |
Firmino doubles as the Reds came from behind to beat Benfica and move to the Champions League semi-finals stage in a (6-4 agg) after a 3-3 draw in Lisbon on Wednesday.
In the end, Liverpool's and their own supporters' acclaim echoed in the ears of the Lisbon team as they quit the tournament following a display that was packed with confidence and devotion till the conclusion of the game.
A goal by Ibrahima Konate during first half of the second leg basically ended the tie for Jurgen Klopp's men, who had already cruised to a 3-1 win against Benfica in Lisbon during their first leg Champions league game.
"It was not exactly what we wanted but it is absolutely not important," said Klopp. "If we played the best game of the season tonight it wouldn't have made it more likely to get to the final. We are through and that's all that matters and I'm really happy."
After Benfica's Goncalo Ramos equalized shortly before the halftime break, the teams were locked at 1-1, as Liverpool edged ahead with 4-2 overall.
Inside 55 minutes, Diogo Jota established a fine pass for Firmino deliver point-blank strike, as well as the Brazil professional scored a second goal shortly after off an assist from Georgios Tsimikas.
Benfica were resolute throughout the match, scoring twice in the closing minutes to restore some intensity to Merseyside.
Alejandro Grimaldo's through pass set up Roman Yaremchuk that was brought in early in the second half game and latched over to the ball and around the Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson and eventually slotting the ball into an empty post for a goal to make it 3-2.
Earlier, VAR marked the goal for an offside position, but a further review determined that it was a clean goal.
Similarly, Darwin Nunez's goal after Benfica's offside trap had also been called off until Video Assistant Referee involvement to even the game at 3-3 upon that night, which was a comparable narrative.
Last time VAR upheld with an on-field decision and Liverpool avoided a potentially nerve-wracking last few minutes thanks to the superb Nunez.
"All Benfica fans must be proud of this campaign. We had a difficult group stage, and then faced Ajax and Liverpool. As we advanced the opponents became more difficult, but we gave a good account of ourselves," said Benfica manager Nelson Verissimo.
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