After Liverpool’s comprehensive win over FC Porto in the first leg of their Round of 16 Champions League tie, it is fair to say that this game is all but a dead rubber. After strolling to a 5-0 win at the Estadio do Dragao last month, Jurgen Klopp’s men will have every right to already look towards the Quarter finals in April.
However, that is not to say that Liverpool will take the game all that lightly. Although qualification is but a mere formality the last thing the Merseyside outfit will want is to suffer a defeat, one which would in turn halt the positive momentum that they are harnessing as of late.
This was no less evident than last Saturday evening when they made relatively light work of Newcastle at Anfield. With former boss Rafael Benitez making a return to the club that he led to 2005 success in this competition, his game plan was always going to be one of trying to frustrate the likes of Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.
Unfortunately for the Magpies it was one that was thwarted before half time when the Egyptian international Salah broke the deadlock, while Firmino was on hand to set up Sadio Mane for Liverpool’s second of the night which wrapped up all three points.
They hardly needed to get out of second gear in that particular display and you have to ask yourselves just how much of a test that Sergio Conceicao’s men will be able to offer when the two sides meet in this upcoming return leg.
FC Porto’s European exploits for this season are only 90 minutes away from concluding and come full time the focus will shift back to trying to land the Primera Liga come May. These hopes were increased last Friday night when they picked up a 2-1 win over arch rivals Sporting Lisbon.
That home win at the weekend now puts them five points clear of perennial challengers Benfica as they enter the final quarter of the season. Domestic success this season is most definitely in their own hands, the question is whether they can get over the line and deliver a 28th league title in the club’s history and more importantly a first since 2013.
Another question is whether the former Portuguese international midfielder Sergio Conceicao, who took over the FC Porto hot seat from now Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Nuno Espirito Santo back in June 2017 will name a full-strength line up for the trip to Liverpool.
One school of thought is that Conceicao could well use this game as an opportunity to rest his key players so that they are fully fresh for the weekend, in what will be another all-important Portuguese League fixture at Pacos Ferreira this Sunday.
You could also make the same claim for Jurgen Klopp, especially with a titanic clash with Manchester United on the horizon this weekend. Don’t be all that surprised if we see two teams offering line ups that are not quite what you would consider their recognised first elevens.
This current FC Porto crop of players is not at the level of the Porto teams from yesteryear, a point that was made apparent after their first leg thrashing. They did well to qualify out of the group stage this season, but Liverpool have shown the gulf in class between the two sides as it is they who are set to become one of the final eight teams in this season’s edition of the Champions League.