Micah Richards has warned Liverpool to be cautious of Benfica forward Darwin Nunez when the two sides meet in the quarter-finals of this season’s Champions League.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were drawn against the Portuguese outfit on Friday, which on paper was one of the easier draws, but the former Manchester City defender has warned the Reds that Nunez can cause them problems across the two-legged tie.
“Liverpool fans will have been delighted at how the Champions League draw panned out but let me provide a word of warning,” Richards wrote in a Daily Mail column (via TEAMtalk).
“Darwin Nunez has caught my eye all year and he came up trumps for Benfica once again, to send them into the last eight.
“Nunez scored his 26th goal of the season and is only 22. He is tall, strong, he runs in behind and knows how to finish.
“He’s scored against Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Ajax so far — don’t discount him doing the same against Liverpool.”
The Uruguayan has 26 goals in 33 appearances for the Primeira Liga outfit this term, including four strikes in this season’s Champions League.
The 22-year-old is believed to be attracting interest from a number of clubs in Europe and Jurgen Klopp’s side are one of the sides reportedly keen on a summer move for the forward.
The Portuguese outfit will be seriously concerned by the attacking threat that we pose, however, and will be especially aware of Luis Diaz after coming up against the Colombian on a number of occasions whilst he was at Benfica’s rivals FC Porto.
There’s never an easy game in the Champions League, especially during the knockout stages, so we’ll need to be at our best to ensure we book a place in the semi-final where we’ll face either Bayern Munich or Villarreal.
For now, though, we must focus on today’s huge FA Cup clash with Nottingham Forest at the City Ground to continue our hopes of completing a glorious quadruple.
#Ep41 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: The Champions League QF Draw… and more!