Liverpool ousts Benfica on aggregate, Man City also through to Champions League semis

Liverpool didn't need its best players to secure progress to the Champions League semifinals on Wednesday.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp opted to rest stars like Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and saw his backups play out a wild 3-3 draw with visiting Benfica in the second leg of the quarter-finals to wrap up a 6-4 aggregate win.

Villarreal awaits Liverpool in the last four.

Goncalo Ramos had made it 1-1 on the night in the 32nd minute — keeping Benfica in with the unlikeliest of chances — but Liverpool never looked like squandering its big advantage, even though substitute Roman Yaremchuk and Darwin Nunez scored goals for the visitors in the 73rd and 82nd minutes, respectively.

Liverpool stayed on course to win the competition for a seventh time, and for an unprecedented quadruple of trophies this season. That Klopp was able to rotate so heavily after building a commanding lead in Lisbon last week should enable Liverpool to field a full-strength team against Manchester City in the FA Cup semifinals on Saturday.

Manchester City held hosts Atletico Madrid to a 0-0 draw Wednesday to return to the Champions League semifinals and keep alive its hopes of winning Europe's top club competition for the first time.

City advanced thanks to its 1-0 win in the first leg last week.

In the end, it was Pep Guardiola getting the best of Diego Simeone in the battle of styles between City's offensive-minded tactics and Atletico's more cautious approach.

The hosts played the final minutes a man down after defender Felipe was sent off for kicking an opponent. The benches had been cleared a few moments earlier as Atletico's players appeared upset with City's attempt to waste time.

Runner-up last year,