In the eighth finals of the Champions League FC Porto (the winner of 2004) faces Liverpool (the winner of 2005). Both the Portuguese and the English are doing great opportunities to join the best eight clubs in Europe.

Of the Portuguese Primeira League, we usually do not have much in the Netherlands and Belgium. At most we get to see some snippets when Bas Dost has put a couple of them in the basket on behalf of Sporting CP. However, it is the inaccessible FC Porto that holds the leading position in Portugal. With seventeen victories and four draws, Os Dragoes (De Draken) are unbeaten in their own country this season. The team of coach Sergio Conceicao is also doing a great job outside the national borders, as in the group stage of the Champions League it finished as number two behind group winner Besiktas and managed to keep the non-sick clubs RB Leipzig and AS Monaco behind them. . The two defeats in the group stage of the Champions League (RB Leipzig-out: 3-2 / Besiktas-home: 1-3) are also the only two defeats of the Portuguese of this season in ninety minutes. Last weekend, the blue-whites added some extra confidence by putting the poor Chaves over the knee by no less than 0-4. “We did not think of Liverpool home for a moment. 0-4 is nice, but 0-1 was fine for me. The number of goals does not really matter to me. For me, it’s all about playing soccer and creating opportunities. I think we have succeeded today. ”

Incidentally, it is not just the smell of roses and moonshine in the FC Porto camp. Defender Felipe is suspended on Wednesday-evening, while tastemakers like Vincent Aboubakar and Andre Andre are big questions. According to the Portuguese A Bola, Andre seems to get fit in time, but chances are that Aboubakar still has to go missing. That would be a hefty loss, because with five goals in five Champions League appearances, the attacker from Cameroon is currently one-on-one. That would mean that Conceicao is mainly dependent on Moussa Marega in terms of goals. The Malians may call themselves club top scorers with sixteen league goals, but is still dry in the European champions ball.

Five-time Champions League-winner Liverpool crowned himself in a group with Sevilla, Spartak Moscow and Maribor as group winner, but did so without really impressing. The British managed to win only half of their group matches. Jürgen Klopp and his men know that the real work is now about to begin. ‘FC Porto is a tough opponent,’ Klopp said in December last year immediately after the draw. Nevertheless, the German can not grumble, because he could also have teams such as Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Juventus lottery tickets.

Liverpool always remains a bit of a weird team for me. One Red The Reds can play fantastically, and then one week later gigantic through the ice. The best example, of course, is the great 4-3 victory over last week’s Manchester City leader, followed by a shameful 1-0 defeat at relegation candidate Swansea City a week later. Liverpool was subsequently declared the Premier League’s Robin Hood on social media: “Steal points from the rich, and hand them over to the poor.” Even the most inveterate Liverpool fan can still chuckle here, but of course it is tragic. If Liverpool really wants to compete for the main prizes, it will have to become more constant, especially in the rear. Winter purchase Virgil van Dijk can call himself the most expensive defender of all time with a price tag of 85 million euros, but that does not detract from the fact that he makes a crucial mistake almost every game. The other defenders also have a lot to learn. In addition, I am not too pleased about the keepers as both Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius are at most European subtop. A top keeper is a must if you go for the prizes.

In any event, Liverpool, like FC Porto, had a glorious dress rehearsal by winning 0-2 last weekend at Southampton. The score was already on the scoreboard at half time thanks to goals from Roberto Firminho and Mohamed Salah. Scoring goes the red shirts in any case easily, because with 61 league goals in 27 rounds only leader Manchester City scored this season more often in the Premier League. Also in the Champions League, Liverpool shot mercilessly from her shoe several times. In the six group matches, The Reds scored a total of 23 times.

PREDICTION: Over 2.5 goals @ 1.76