LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has insisted a looming FA Cup semifinal against Manchester City will have no impact on his team selection for Wednesday’s Champions League tie at home to Benfica.
Last weekend the Reds, still in the hunt for an unprecedented quadruple of trophies in the one season, drew 2-2 with City to remain just a point behind the Premier League leaders.
They will face City again in the last four of the FA Cup at Wembley on Saturday but before then the six-time kings of Europe play Benfica in the second leg of a Champions League quarter-final at Anfield.
Liverpool, who beat Chelsea in a penalty shoot-out to win the English League Cup final at Wembley in February, have a healthy 3-1 lead following the first leg in Portugal, which has led to speculation Klopp could rest key players with an eye to the FA Cup tie.
But the German boss, speaking at a pre-match press conference on Tuesday, insisted: “The next game has no influence on the line-up for tomorrow but the last game has.
“So we have to see. It is a super intense schedule.”
Klopp added: “There is nobody injured, as far as I know, but we have to be careful with who is fresh enough for this game and stuff like this.”
As for Liverpool’s ongoing bid for the quadruple, Klopp said: “We are part of four competitions, and thankfully we are good enough this year not to go out early.
“We just try to squeeze everything out of every competition. Some are possible, we will see.”
Liverpool raced into an early 2-0 lead in Lisbon last week before Darwin Nunez pulled a goal back for Benfica.
And it was only when Luis Diaz scored three minutes from time that Liverpool restored their two-goal lead.
“Knowing more about the way they played, they try to isolate Darwin and Ibou (Konate) one-on-one a little bit,” said Klopp.
“But they play football, and if you don’t defend (Julian) Weigl then you have a problem as well because he connects the people. They have speed with Rafa (da Silva), things like this.”
He added: “I don’t know (how they will play) but I know what I would do. I would go for it, full throttle. I would try to put us under pressure, score early, and if not try to score a bit later. That’s what we expect.
“But now, bad news for Benfica, it’s Anfield: they don’t only play against us, they play against the whole crowd.”
Klopp also suggested television broadcasters were almost as much a threat to Liverpool as their opponents in a renewed attack on the scheduling of the Merseysiders’ matches.
If Liverpool defeat Benfica, they will face either Bayern Munich or Villarreal in the last four, with Klopp angry that after that potential midweek semifinal Liverpool would have to travel to Newcastle for a Saturday lunchtime kick-off.
“The schedule, and how people use the fame in the moment — Liverpool is hot and everyone wants to see them — they couldn’t care less,” said Klopp.
“It’s just not OK.
“If we play a Champions League semifinal, find me another league in the world and another broadcaster in the world who would put that team in a 12.30 p.m. (1130 GMT)?“
Klopp says Liverpool’s FA Cup semifinal has no bearing on Benfica line-up
https://arab.news/cjyjd
Klopp says Liverpool’s FA Cup semifinal has no bearing on Benfica line-up
- Last weekend the Reds, still in the hunt for an unprecedented quadruple of trophies in the one season, drew 2-2 with City to remain just a point behind the Premier League leaders.
- The German boss, speaking at a pre-match press conference on Tuesday, insisted: "The next game has no influence on the line-up for tomorrow but the last game has
Brilliant Bodo/Glimt beat Sporting Lisbon 3-0 in Champions League last-16 first leg
- The Portuguese side showed a glimmer of attacking intent to start the second half but it was quickly snuffed out
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN: Another stellar display on their artificial home turf at the Aspmyra Stadium gave Norway’s Bodo/Glimt a 3-0 win over Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on Wednesday.
The Portuguese side joined the long list of big-name European clubs that have made the journey to the little fishing town inside the Arctic Circle and came away empty-handed as Bodo romped to an easy victory on the night that puts them in the driving seat for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Luis Suarez blazed an early chance over the bar for the visitors but after that their hosts took over, and they went ahead just after the half-hour mark after Giorgos Vagiannidis bundled over Sondre Brunstad Fet in the box.
After a VAR check, the midfielder confidently stroked home the penalty he had won to give his side the lead.
The hosts were 2-0 up by the break, and though there was a slice of luck involved as Jens Petter Hauge’s through ball deflected into the path of Ole Didrik Blomberg, there was nothing lucky about his superb finish from a tight angle to double his side’s advantage.
The Portuguese side showed a glimmer of attacking intent to start the second half but it was quickly snuffed out.
Bodo should have gone three up in the 55th minute after the ball pinged around in the box before eventually going out of play, with defender Jostein Gundersen heading the resulting corner straight at the keeper.
In total control of the game, Bodo grabbed the third goal their efforts deserved when Danish striker Kasper Hogh rounded off another fairytale effort, stealing between two defenders to deftly steer Hauge’s low cross from the left into the net from close range in the 71st minute.
The 3-0 win, Bodo’s fifth straight victory in the competition, leaves Sporting Lisbon with a mountain to climb in the second leg, which will take place in Lisbon next Tuesday.
“It was fun to play again, a fantastic round of 16 game — we still have a long way to go, but the result is fantastic. It will be an exciting week now ... we are halfway there, we know that things can change quickly in football so we have to be at our best again on Tuesday,” winger Hauge told Norway’s TV2.
“They (Sporting) are a good team with many good players, but we are also a fantastic team, we have shown that many times now.”
