Reaction and analysis
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And that’s your lot. Liverpool were forced to battle awhile against Porto, but held firm and eventually won comfortably. They’ll face Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League in a fortnight’s time, the first leg at Camp Nou, while Tottenham Hotspur will take on Ajax in the other semi. Whatever happens, it looks like we’ll get quite a final. But first things first, and Andy Hunter’s report of tonight’s game is below: enjoy! Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
And now it’s the turn of Jurgen Klopp. “We have played better this season but it was very difficult. We knew it before that it would be a proper whirlwind here, and that’s what they did. They played in only one direction, long balls behind, they got the momentum and we had no rhythm. We defended very well in the last third, but when we had the ball we didn’t play enough. But we had our moments. We scored a goal, we had another really big chance. The finishes they had were not too good. In the second half their energy dropped and so we cold control the game more and score the goals. We have more experience now. It was a difficult game so it is all good. We are the only team who was in the semi last year that is there this year. It will be the first time for me that I’ve played Barcelona, so I am looking forward to that!”
Post-match interviews
Sadio Mane: “To be honest the beginning was tough. The team spirit was great, and we never gave up. But we pushed hard and created chances and we deserved to win. To be honest I thought I was offside, and I was surprised. But it was an important goal and we’ve qualified for the semis. We did it!”
Jordan Henderson: “It was tough. The lads dug in really well. It was difficult in the first half. We knew going forward we could score. I thought Sadio’s goal was onside, I was right in line with it, though I think I was the only one who thought that! I don’t think Shaq did. It gave us a real boost coming into half time. When I came on I tried to keep the ball and be sensible, but Joe made a great run to take the defender again, and I saw Bobby and Sadio in the middle. We believe we can remain unbeaten, but we have to work hard. We give everything and we try to be horrible to play against. Tonight’s scoreline flattered us a bit, and Porto’s crowd was amazing , so you’ve got to give some credit to them as well.”
Liverpool celebrate but not in a particularly expressive manner. They did their job calmly and professionally, and their post-match antics reflect that. Porto gave it their all tonight, but never seriously worked Alisson. Liverpool defended with great vigour, and up the other end, the style of Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino told in the end. VAR did its job too. And there was more evidence of Jordan Henderson’s increasingly fine late-season form. This was the place to be tonight, right?
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FULL TIME: Porto 1-4 Liverpool (agg: 1-6)
Liverpool will play Barcelona in the semi-final of the Champions League! They were made to work for this tonight, as Porto really came at them. But they soaked up all the pressure and eventually eased clear. It promises to be one heck of a semi-final!
90 min: There will be two added minutes. Liverpool are flicking it around in the insouciant style. Porto just want it over.
88 min: Salah wangs it miles over the bar and wide to boot. Perhaps he should have left it to all-new Henderson.
87 min: Gomez is bundled over, 30 yards out. A free kick, just to the right of centre. Salah fancies it.
86 min: Henderson chips a sensational ball down the right to release Firmino into acres. Firmino checks and lays off to Salah, who runs down a blind alley. Henderson’s late-season form is becoming increasingly eye-catching.
GOAL! Porto 1-4 Liverpool (van Dijk 84); agg 1-6
Milner whips the corner in with pace. Mane flicks in at the near post, teeing up an unmarked van Dijk, six yards out. The big defender heads down and in.
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83 min: Salah, out on the right, curls a fine cross towards the back post where Milner lurks. Fernando does well to get in the road and head behind for a corner. From which ...
82 min: A mistake by the understandably rusty Gomez allows Soares a run on goal. From the edge of the box, he toe-pokes a strange effort just wide of the bottom left. Not sure Alisson was getting there had it been on target.
81 min: Porto make the last change of their Champions League campaign: Bruno Costa for Yacine Brahimi.
80 min: Liverpool’s travelling supporters are making one hell of a racket now. Si senor.
79 min: The excellent Jesus Corona makes way for Fernando.
GOAL! Porto 1-3 Liverpool (Firmino 77); agg 1-5
The all-new Jordan Henderson sets up yet another goal, gliding down the right and curling in for Firmino to head down and past Casillas. He couldn’t miss; that was on a plate. Jordan Henderson, though. He’s been all over Porto since coming on, and should have had one assist already.
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76 min: Brahimi goes over in the Liverpool box while dribbling in from the right. Milner hadn’t made a challenge, though, and replays clearly show Brahimi going down under his own steam, in order to avoid a collision rather than a dive.
74 min: Given that comedic miss, I wonder if Liverpool nerves would seriously start to jangle if Porto were to get another? Van Dijk is forced to belt the ball behind for a goal kick under pressure in a footrace with Soares. From the corner, Felipe wins a header amid a melee, but can’t send it goalwards.
73 min: A bad minute for Mane is completed as he takes Henderson’s defence-splitting pass down the middle wonderfully well at full tilt. He’s clear. He enters the box, rounds Casillas on the right, and ... slices wide right with the net gaping! Salah, who was in attendance hoping for the lay-off, holds his head in his hands. And no wonder. What a miss!
72 min: The Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson comes on for Andy Robertson. Mane has a dribble towards the Porto box, and has Salah clear down the right. But he doesn’t find his team-mate, and is stripped of possession.
71 min: That’s got the home fans going again. It’s almost certainly too little, too late for the Portuguese champions, but what a header.
GOAL! Porto 1-2 Liverpool (Militao 69); agg 1-4
A corner for Porto out on the left. It’s swung in. Militao rises on the penalty spot and blasts a simply unstoppable downward header into the bottom right. Porto now just need four more to make the semis.
67 min: That was some pass by Alexander-Arnold, who has some vision for a full back. The mind of a midfielder. It was his last touch, as he’s replaced by Joe Gomez, who returns from injury after five months.
GOAL! Porto 0-2 Liverpool (Salah 65); agg 0-4
Firmino wins a ball deep in his own half, and sends Liverpool on the break. Alexander-Arnold, out on the right, threads a diagonal ball to Salah down the inside-left channel. The ball is perfectly weighted, evading the desperate telescopic slide of Filipe. Salah is free. He draws Casillas and slams the ball past the keeper and into the net.
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64 min: Liverpool take a little of the sting out of the game by passing it back and forth around the back. An ersatz nod to the late Seventies.
62 min: A free kick for Porto out on the right. Corona curls it in. It’s eyebrowed on by Herrera to Telles, who shanks over the bar. The flag didn’t go up, but four Porto players were alone in the box and I suspect a couple may have been marginally offside. But of course it doesn’t matter, a great chance having been wantonly wasted.
60 min: It’s end-to-end nonsense now. Marega works hard down the right but can’t quite find Soares in the middle. A better ball, though, and Liverpool were wide open. Then Firmino dribbles away from danger and very nearly releases Salah down the right, but Danilo intercepts just in time.
59 min: Mane sashays down the inside-right channel and one-twos with Firmino. He reaches the byline and wedges one back into the centre for Salah, but Felipe is on hand to intercept and clear.
58 min: Herrera, cutting in from the left, has a belt at goal from 25 yards. He gets plenty behind it, but Alisson is positioned perfectly to snaffle it gently in his midriff. Liverpool go up the other end, Milner working his way down the left. But his cross sails harmlessly out for a goal kick, with options in the middle.
57 min: It’s stopped raining. Mane dribbles down the right and crosses for Salah, who tries to guide a long-range header into the top left. It’s no good.
56 min: Telles again with a wild ball whistled out for a goal kick. Another waste, as he had time and space down the left and players in the box.
54 min: Herrera makes good down the right and crosses for Soares, who gets in ahead of Alexander-Arnold on the penalty spot but clanks his header well wide right. Porto have had their chances tonight, but have hardly worked Alisson at all.
53 min: Fabinho clips Danilo out on the Porto left. A chance for Porto to line up in front of the Liverpool box. Telles hoicks an appalling free kick straight out of play for a goal kick.
51 min: Porto’s corner is a complete waste of time. The Liverpool fans are making most of the noise right now. The home support understandably subdued. A goal would change everything.
50 min: The corner’s hit long from the left. Firmino tries to hook it back into the centre, but Porto clear. Corona dances down the right, teasing Milner with many stepovers. He crosses, forcing Matip to head behind under pressure from Marega.
49 min: Danilo plays a poor backwards header towards Casillas. Salah latches onto it, romping down the left. He’s got Mane and Firmino clear in the middle, but his cross doesn’t beat the first man. He’ll have to settle for a corner.
47 min: Porto need four goals, so you can understand their throwing an extra striker on. An early goal or two and you never know. Soares is quickly into the action, as he tries to chest down a fierce cross into the Liverpool box from the left. He can’t get it under control and Liverpool clear their lines.
Liverpool get the second half underway. Two half-time changes. The hosts have sent on Francisco Soares in place of Otavio, while Liverpool have replaced Divock Origi with Roberto Firmino.
Half-time entertainment. On the off-chance you don’t know what’s been happening at the Etihad, you’d better have a look at this.
HALF TIME: Porto 0-1 Liverpool (agg: 0-3)
There’s just time for Alexander-Arnold to turn cutely between Brahimi and Herrera, running clear down the right. Milner hangs out a leg to meet his low whipped cross, and the ball screws across Casillas and inches wide of the bottom left. Had that been on target, the keeper wasn’t getting to it. And that’s that for the first 45. Porto have been the better team, but Liverpool have defended with resilience and caught them on the break. Mane’s goal means Porto have to score four in the second half if they’re to get through.
45 min: Origi doesn’t turn on the jets when the ball’s loose down the Liverpool left, and Casillas is able to race out of his box and clear just in time. That was all a bit strange. Not sure why Origi didn’t really throw himself into that situation.
44 min: Marega barges his way towards the Liverpool box and causes momentary panic. Van Dijk and Robertson make a meal of clearing, the former kicking the ball up onto the latter’s upper arm. Porto want VAR to award a penalty, because the ref’s not going to. But Robertson’s arm looked in a natural position, and there’s nothing doing.
42 min: Liverpool are winning a lot of scrappy 50-50 challenges right now. It’s irritating the hell out of the home support, who whistle each one with great feeling and passion. The rain continues to fall.
40 min: Corona repeats his run of 33 seconds, racing in from the right, past Robertson, and looking to curl one into the bottom corner this time. Alisson has it covered.
39 min: For the first time this evening, Liverpool have gained a modicum of control. Porto aren’t really going anywhere right now. The busy Militao whips in another cross from the right, but it’s easily cleared by van Dijk.
37 min: Pepe is booked for clattering into Origi, who was attempting to turn into space in the centre circle. It was a fierce charge, a rutting stag making no attempt to play the ball. He has no reason to complain, but you know how Pantomime Pepe rolls. We’ll miss him when he’s gone.
35 min: It’s all a little bit scrappy right now. Liverpool will be more than happy with that, an away goal in the bag, the crowd quietened down a little, the clock on their side.
33 min: Militao is down, getting a bit of medical attention having been accidentally clacked in the mush by Mane. But he’s up again quickly enough, he’ll be fine to continue. Meanwhile the rain continues to lash down.
31 min: Robertson fouls Militao out on the right. A chance for Porto to load the box. Which they do, but Danilo’s delivery isn’t all that, hung high in the sky, and Alisson can pluck it down with ease.
29 min: It had been all Porto, as well. The hosts try to equalise immediately, Brahimi sending a fierce volley goalwards, latching onto a right-wing cross while racing in from the left. He connects well, but it’s straight at Alisson who gathers without fuss.
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GOAL! Porto 0-1 Liverpool (Mane 28); agg 0-3
But it’s checked by VAR, and eventually given! Mane looked a mile offside to the naked eye, as Salah clips a diagonal ball, left to right, through a thicket to set Mane up by the right-hand post. Mane stuck a leg out and poked home ... and in fact he’d timed his run to perfection! Porto now need four goals to progress.
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26 min: This is end-to-end mayhem. First Herrera is sent clean through on goal. He’s one on one with Alisson, but takes his own sweet time to sort his feet out. And then van Dijk comes from behind, from nowhere, and nicks the ball off his toe! What in intervention! Then Liverpool go straight up the other end and putt the ball in the net, Robertson and Salah combining down the left, and squaring for Mane who pokes into an empty net! But the referee says it’s offside.
25 min: Corona has a shot from 25 yards. He’s closed down by his own man, the ball deflecting towards Brahimi, just inside the Liverpool box. The flag goes up for offside, much to Liverpool’s relief.
23 min: Corona is causing Liverpool all sorts of bother down the left. He shimmies and shakes just inside the box, but can’t get a shot away. Alisson eventually gathers.
22 min: Another chance for Marega, the ball deflecting down the Porto inside-right channel and fortuitously dropping to the big striker. He takes it first time, but snatches at his shot from just inside the box, sending the ball rolling apologetically towards Alisson. Not entirely sure how Liverpool are holding on here, though despite Porto’s total domination they haven’t seriously worked Allison yet.
20 min: Now Pepe clatters into Salah in the centre circle. All this nonsense gives Liverpool a much-needed chance to catch their breath. “Corona sounds like he should have a decent head on him,” quips light entertainment’s Matt Dony. “I’m here all week. Try the bacalhau.”
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18 min: Liverpool can’t get out of their final third. Salah hacks a clearance upfield but it just comes straight back. Militao eases the pressure by blootering wildly over from the best part of 30 yards. Full marks for ambition, if nothing else.
17 min: Marega wins a physical battle against van Dijk, who looks out of sorts so far. That allows Porto to win a corner off Matip. The set piece leads to Marega teeing up Pepe for a shot, 20 yards out. It’s blocked out for another corner on the left.
15 min: Liverpool are living dangerously right now. Brahimi sends another cross in from the left. The ball drops to Marega on the penalty spot. He sends a first-time volley screeching just wide of the bottom left.
14 min: Corona has Matip on toast out on the left. He reaches the byline and clips a cross into the centre. Van Dijk should head clear, but misses the ball, allowing a startled Marega to improvise a header in short order. It flashes wide right.
13 min: A little bit of space for Salah out on the right. He looks to nudge the ball inside, surely with a view to launching one towards the top left like he did against Chelsea last weekend. But he takes a heavy touch and Porto are able to clear their lines. A real first-goal-wins sense to this game right now.
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11 min: The set piece causes Liverpool more grief. Marega can’t get enough purchase on a header from eight yards, and he eyebrows it out to the left for a goal kick. But Pepe wasn’t far off connecting to the inadvertent flick-on at the far post. Liverpool are holding on a bit here.
10 min: Corona makes good down the left and feathers a cross into the Liverpool box. Herrera, coming in from deep, winds his neck back with a view to crashing a header home. Robertson does very well to get in the road and flick the ball behind for a corner.
8 min: Brahimi races towards the Liverpool box, sashaying in from the right. He has a whack from distance, but the shot goes well wide left. This is all Porto in the early stages.
6 min: Another big Milner tackle, this time on Corona, this time illegal. A free kick for Porto in the middle of the park. The set piece is hooked into the mixer, and Marega spins on the penalty spot and sends a low shot towards the bottom left. Alisson has it covered, and the flag went up for offside anyway. But Porto are causing Liverpool some early concern.
5 min: Liverpool have been a bit passive in these early exchanges. Milner slides in on Marega - a legal crunch, even if the player and his fans don’t like it - sending a signal to his team-mates to get their gamefaces on and quick.
4 min: This is quite a hectic start. Marega, who missed a couple of big chances at Anfield last week, drives at the Liverpool back four. He’s not really afforded much room to get a shot away, though, and the ball eventually squirms through to Alisson.
2 min: Alisson shanks a kick upfield and is very fortunate to see the ball make its way to Origi out on the left. Liverpool’s surprise selection tries to tear past Militao, and does indeed get past, but he’s penalised for tugging his opponent’s shoulder.
33 sec: Corona nearly provides Porto with a sensational start! He glides in from the right, waltzes past Robertson and van Dijk, and curls powerfully across Alisson and towards the top-left corner. It flies inches over the bar. Had that been on target, Alisson was beaten! But Liverpool survive an early scare.
And we’re off! The hosts get the party started, as blistering noise ricochets off all four walls of the Estadio do Dragao. A reminder that Liverpool go into the tie 2-0 up, though this is far from done and dusted, as the following stat illustrates: Porto are the only club left in the competition with a 100 percent home record. Here we go, then!
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The teams are out! Porto are in their blue-and-white shirts, while Liverpool wear red. A wild atmosphere in the dragon’s den. The home side didn’t do an awful lot of warming up, at least not out on the pitch, where the rain continues to stream down. Liverpool will be more accustomed to the conditions, then, if nothing else. We’ll be off soon, so no doubt you’ll be feeling that pre-match tingle of excitement, maybe even a jangle of the old nerves. “As a Liverpool fan, here’s three reasons to be fearful about tonight,” begins Aidan O’Keefe on this very subject. “1: The rain. 2: VAR. 3: The fact everyone reckons this is a done deal. Far from it; 2-0 flattered the ‘Pool in a big way last week. I’ve a bad feeling about this. Porto v Ajax just might be the Big Cup Final 2019.”
A serious Jurgen Klopp speaks. “There’s no issue with Firmino. I am just respecting the fantastic form Divock Origi has been in for weeks and months, and bringing in fresh legs. That is all. It’s the same thing we do in midfield, because we expect a very intense game. We expect a hard-fighting Porto side, so we need to be ready for that. Of course Bobby is ready, it’s not a rest, it’s bringing in Div with his speed. We must play a normal game. We are not long enough in the business to come here and control or manage the result. When we are at our best, it could be really uncomfortable for Porto, so we want to win here. We don’t want to concede, we want to score, we want to create. In their stadium, with their crowd, of course it will be different and we have to make sure it has no influence.”
Weather report. It is absolutely tipping down in Portugal. The weather is positively epic. English. Lancastrian. Biblical. Look at this!
For You Blue. Spotted at the Estadio do Dragao, the fab back four. They’ve been much more solid since bringing in Ringo for Dejan ‘Pete Best’ Lovren.
Porto make three changes to the team sent out at Anfield last week. Yacine Brahimi, Pepe and captain Hector Herrera return to the starting XI, while Maxi Pereira, Oliver Torres and Francisco Soares drop to the bench.
Liverpool make four changes to last week’s starting line-up. Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino drop to the bench, while Dejan Lovren is ill. Georginio Wijnaldum, Andy Robertson, Joel Matip and Divock Origi take their places.
The teams
Porto: Casillas, Eder Militao, Pepe, Felipe, Alex Telles, Otavio, Danilo Pereira, Herrera, Corona, Marega, Brahimi.
Subs: Vana, Maxi Pereira, Costa, Torres, Andre Pereira, Tiquinho Soares, Fernando.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Milner, Salah, Origi, Mane.
Subs: Mignolet, Keita, Firmino, Gomez, Henderson, Sturridge, Shaqiri.
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands).
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Preamble
Porto have never beaten Liverpool. The two clubs first met in the quarter-finals of the old Uefa Cup in 2001. After a goalless draw in Oporto, Gerard Houllier’s side won 2-0 at Anfield thanks to Michael Owen and Danny Murphy, and went on to win the cup. In the group stage of the 2007/08 Champions League, the teams drew in Portugal again, and Liverpool won at home again, Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch in the goals. And then there was last year’s round-of-16 thumping: Sadio Mane the hat-trick hero of a 5-0 win at the Estádio do Dragão, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino also getting on the scoresheet.
Porto will need to snap that sequence quicksmart if they’re to progress to a semi-final against Barcelona. They’re 2-0 down from the first leg at Anfield, Naby Keita and Firmino doing the damage this time. Liverpool have their opponents exactly where they want them: Porto have to attack, and at some point will surely leave themselves vulnerable to the counter, at which their opponents excel.
But there is hope for the home side - and danger for the Reds. Porto had their chances at Anfield; on another day Moussa Marega could easily have scored a couple of away goals, and things would look very different right now. They’ve also won all four of their home games in the Champions League this season ... while Liverpool have lost three of four away. Jurgen Klopp’s side have also lost five of their last ten matches in Europe, all of those defeats coming away from home.
Liverpool can’t afford to take anything for granted, then. An away goal would settle the nerves, requiring Porto to score four. Can the Reds seal the deal and set up a semi-final with Barcelona? Or will the Portuguese champions turn this tie around and reach the last four for the first time since the days of Jose Mourinho? We’ll find out soon enough. It’s on!
Kick off: 8pm (both local and BST).
