Benfica are ready to match wits with Liverpool at home in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter final. The Portuguese side comes into the match having eliminated Ajax, while “The Reds” took care of Italian champions Inter in their round of 16 matches.
For Liverpool the Champions League is the ultimate goal, the club is also one point back of Manchester City in the Premier League and are winners of their last 5 in the league. Liverpool without question could be the hottest team in the world.
Still manager Jürgen Klopp is not being cocky ahead of their match with Benfica and highlighted one of their players as a player to watch out for as Liverpool prepare to take on Benfica in UEFA Champions League action.
Klopp full of praise for Benfica striker Darwin Núñez
Darwin Núñez (Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
The one player that has caught Klopp’s eye ahead of the match is Uruguayan international Darwin Núñez. The 22-year-old finisher has interest from many teams around the top leagues in Europe and his Champions League form has been sensational with 4 goals in 8 matches this season.
When speaking to the press, Klopp mentioned that Núñez is not the only threat for Benfica but “(Núñez) is a good forward, he’s the next striker for Uruguay… I don’t know how he plays with Suárez and Cavani, but it should be a challenge to deal with them… He’s a top kid.”
Núñez’s stock continues to grow as the Uruguayan has not only scored in the Champions League but has 21 goals in 23 games in Portugal. While Núñez is having a tremendous individual season, Benfica are third in Portugal 9 points behind Sporting Lisbon in second and 12 points behind FC Porto who is in first place.
Klopp has kept an eye on the Portuguese league before as the club signed Colombian forward Luis Diaz from FC Porto for €45 million in January.
