Luis Díaz turned the page of the elimination of the Colombian National Team from the World Cup of Qatar this year. He already regretted that he will not be there, but now he concentrates all his goals on what is to come, on the definition of the Premier League, and on the Champions League, where Liverpool faces Benfica on a visit, in the first leg of the quarterfinals (2 pm ESPN TV).
The Colombian, who did not perform over the weekend in the Reds’ victory against Watford, was booked to arrive rested for this match, in which the English team starts as favourites, although he must endorse that condition with a positive result in Lisbon.
Díaz already had his debut in the Champions League with Liverpool, he did it in the two games of the series against Inter Milan. He didn’t start those games. And he played little, just 38 minutes, so it is expected that today will be his true great appearance, hopefully, as a first baseman.
For Díaz it means the return to Portugal, where he knew how to be a figure wearing the Porto shirt. There, he earned respect, being the best player in that league in 2021. He also faces one of his traditional rivals when he was there, Benfica, which is another of the great teams in Portugal. He knows him well.
Universal language?
However, yesterday DT Jürgen Klopp made a comment about the Colombian, which raised questions, regarding the language difficulty between the two. “He tried to talk to me about Benfica, but we didn’t understand a word!” Klopp said at the press conference. A phrase that did not go unnoticed, because two weeks ago he also referred to this difficulty that he currently has with the player.
Liverpool has its best and largest squad in recent times. With players like Diogo Jota and Díaz, the team no longer depends only on Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah.
In midfield, Thiago Alcántara is in the best moment of his career. In defense, the incorporation of Ibrahima Konaté allowed to rotate and avoid injuries like last year. The team has not even noticed the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold, injured.
Benfica, to knock down Liverpool
Until now, of the previous four qualifiers between the two, the first three were won by the English (1977-78, 83-84, 94-85), but the last fell to the Portuguese side (2005-06).
Now, Benfica hosts the English in Lisbon with the hope of making it through the quarterfinals for the first time in the Champions League format (starting in the 1992-93 season), after managing to leave Ajax from Amsterdam in the second round in March, which also started as favorite.
He dreams of passing the quarterfinals – a phase he last played in 2016 – and accessing a semifinal, a phase he reached four times.
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