Where are they now? Liverpool’s XI knocked out of the CL by Benfica

Jurgen Klopp will be secretly delighted his Liverpool side were drawn to play against Benfica in this season’s Champions League quarter-finals. But the Reds should be mindful – they haven’t always enjoyed good fortune against the Portuguese outfit.

The two clubs last met in the Champions League at Anfield in 2006. Rafael Benitez’s men were tasked with overcoming a one-goal first-leg deficit in the last 16 tie.

But the Lisbon-based side emphatically knocked the then-reigning champions out, recording a 2-0 win on away turf.

The Merseysiders had some stellar names in their ranks on that March night, but Simao and co were just too good. We’ve taken a look at the Liverpool XI from that 2-0 defeat to see what they are up to now.

Despite the defeat to Benfica, Reina’s debut campaign at Anfield did end as he was the star of Liverpool’s penalty shootout victory over West Ham United in the FA Cup final.

After cementing himself as an all-time great Liverpool goalkeeper, the 39-year-old moved to Napoli in 2013 before spells with AC Milan and Aston Villa. He’s now back in Serie A under Maurizio Sarri at Lazio in the twilight of a glistening career.

The term “Steady Eddie” perfectly describes Finnan as a player for the Reds. He didn’t possess the long-range passing skills or assist-making abilities we now see from Trent Alexander-Arnold – few do – but his reliability made him a key asset for Benitez.

The former Republic of Ireland international has kept very much under the radar since his retirement in 2010, moving to London to run his own property development business.

But the company went into liquidation in 2020 and Finnan had to sell a variety of memorabilia including his 2005 Champions League winners medal.

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