Liverpool and Manchester City have advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions League at the expense of Portugal's Benfica and Spain's Atletico Madrid. The Reds qualified after an exciting draw with Benfica in the return match at Anfield on Wednesday evening. With this result, Liverpool won the quarter-final tie 6-4, having secured a 3-1 victory in the first leg in Portugal.
In the Wednesday match, Liverpool's Ibrahima Konaté scored in the 21st minute, while Gonzalo Ramos equalized for Benfica in the 32nd minute. In the second half, Egyptian star Mohamed Salah made an appearance, and Brazilian Roberto Firmino scored twice for Liverpool in the 55th and 65th minutes. The Portuguese team managed to level the game again with goals from Roman Yaremchuk in the 73rd minute and Darwin Núñez in the 82nd minute.
Anfield will host the first leg of the semi-finals on April 27, with the second leg at Estadio de la Cerámica on May 4. In Spain, Manchester City achieved its goal of reaching the Champions League semi-finals following a goalless draw with host Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano, winning 1-0 on aggregate. City had settled the first leg at the Etihad Stadium with a 1-0 victory.
City's players successfully absorbed the home team's enthusiasm and desire to compensate for the first leg's defeat and to win in front of their fans. Atletico finished the fiery match with ten players after defender Felipe received a second yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Phil Foden, resulting in injury and bleeding from his head.
Manchester City will face Real Madrid in the semi-finals after the Spanish team overcame Chelsea 5-4 on aggregate. City currently leads the Premier League by a single point over Liverpool. The two teams will also meet in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on Saturday.
