Liverpool Inevitably Trounces Porto on March to Champions League Semis

Here's the biggest surprise in this Champions League quarter-final pairing:

Porto only lost the first leg to Liverpool, 2-0.

In the return leg, though, the Reds ultimately decided to stop dicking around. Dudes ka-rushed the pride of Portugal, 1-4.

No word if they thought they needed a shower afterward.

 

Porto tried to do the defend your turf thing, but with Moussa Marega facing a hard time finishing, those efforts fizzled out in a quarter-hour or so.

The 'Pool started finding openings, and by the 26th minute, it was time to capitalize. Dudes launched a lethal counter-attack with  Mohamed Salah picking out Sadio Mané, whom the linesman apparently thought was in a offside position.

The Senegalese striker finished the play, though, slotting home past Iker Casillas. Enter the VAR review, and human error was overruled yet again:

 

Porto didn't take the news well at all. They suddenly lost the impetus and allowed Liverpool to exchange passes at will.

This is when the Reds made the only tough decision they'd have all night.

 

After the break, their choice was obvious.

Jürgen Klopp injected Roberto Firmino into the action, and the Brazilian proved to be a game changer. Maybe he entered as a sorta No 9 , but he played a No 10 role, and Liverpool took control. 

In the 65th minute, the Reds put another scored on the board. Trent Alexander-Arnold's brilliant ball put Salah face-to-face with Casillas. No contest:

 

This was the sorta match that needed a courtesy goal, and only three minutes later, Porto got one.

With a useful corner drifting in from Alex Telles, Éder Militão sprung higher than Fabinho and headed home past Alisson Becker:

 

The Reds merely shrugged it off and, in the 77th minute, substitute Jordan Henderson's right wing cross met Firmino, who used his head productively:

 

What's it telling you when the team captain's taking a day off in a Champions League quarter-final?

 

For good measure, Virgil van Dijk finished a James Milner corner at 84 minutes to officially book the 'Pool's place in the semifinals:

 

Liverpool is firing on all cylinders at a point in the season where that counts for something.

With the Premiership title there for the taking, too, the next month's gonna involve a lotta counting.