Porto 1, Liverpool 4 (agg. 1-6): Man of the Match

After a hard-fought match, with a win and a ticket to the semi finals in the books, we’d like you to have your say on whose performance deserves the match ball.

What many fans hoped would be a straightforward affair got off to a bit of a rocky start as Porto came out of the gates roaring. Thankfully, through the steadfast play of Alisson Becker and composed finishing of Sadio Mane, the match settled. Mohamed Salah added one more on an inch perfect assist from Trent Alexander-Arnold, with Roberto Firmino and Virgil Van Dijk also putting goals in for good measure. And even with the hosts nabbing a well-deserved consolation goal, in the end, the good guys waltzed through.

That is a huge sigh of relief, then, for Reds fans and one more major step towards a repeat appearance in the Champions League Finals. Though, there is a bit of a concern that comes out of this performance. Unsurprising as it may be to most Liverpool fans, it was clear that the club struggled without Roberto Firmino leading the line. Sure, we got the result and there is definitely little to be too fussed about when Bobby received some much needed rest to go with his goal (though, this scribe would’ve liked him to get more of a breather), but no one can deny that the team is either in need of a true Bobby replacement and/or will need to work on their tactical responsibilities for matches that the Brazilian may miss.

Still, this is a day of positives and very few complaints. Liverpool get the win and secure passage to the semi finals in the Champions League. All good things.

Now let us know how you saw it. With our usual polling tool out of service, we’re instead giving you a choice between a few of the players we thought looked best today for the Reds, so make your choice below and vote for who you think should be the man of the match—or take to the comments to let us know that we got it wrong by leaving the real man of the match off the list entirely.

And as always, anyone visiting on Apple News or Google AMP who wish to vote and can’t see the poll can make it visible by navigating to the front page of The Liverpool Offside and re-entering the story.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com