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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has waxed lyrical about Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos for his stellar performance in their Champions League game against his team.
The Reds came away with a 3-1 win in the first leg of their quarter-final tie at the Estadio da Luz, which has all but sealed their place in the last four.
Ibrahima Konate, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz were among the goals for Klopp's side, who could've easily won by a bigger margin had it not been for the opposing goalkeeper.
Vlachodimos made five incredible saves on the night to keep the game from turning into a blowout for the Eagles, who were utterly dominated by Liverpool.
Klopp also hailed the Greek custodian as the Man of the Match in his post-match comments. He told BT Sport:
"We should have scored much more.
"I think, mainly because of their goalkeeper, credit to him. Their goalkeeper was probably the game's best player. We played well, but he made a couple of really good saves."
The 27-year-old was in inspired form but couldn't save his team from going down as Liverpool now take a two-goal advantage back to Anfield for the return leg next week.
Liverpool manager satisfied with Benfica win
Liverpool raced to a 2-0 lead before the break, but the hosts pulled one back early into the second half through Darwin Nunez.
The game seemed far from over, but the Reds held on to their lead until Diaz popped up with their third of the night in the closing moments of normal time.
Klopp felt they could've scored more but sounded satisfied with the result. He added:
"It was tough when they scored because the crowd was there immediately because they knew that 2-0 is nothing, it’s nice but nothing more than that and we saw it after they scored. The game was much more open than we expected.
"That’s it. We won. Two goals up. Halftime. Not more, not less. It would have been nice to score another one, but let’s keep going. We have a good result, we know much more about our opponent going to the second game and are aware of their quality."
The Reds will host Benfica in the deciding leg next Wednesday, with a semi-final spot almost certain.
