Liverpool set up a Champions League semi-final tie with Villarreal after seeing off a spirited Benfica side 6-4 over two legs after a pulsating 3-3 second-leg draw at Anfield.
Boasting a 3-1 lead from the first leg at the Estadio da Luz, Ibrahima Konate made lightning strike twice against Benfica - rising highest in the 21st minute to put Liverpool in the ascendancy.
Benfica hotshot Darwin Nunez chipped the ball over Alisson Becker not long after before the strike was ruled out for offside, but there was no debating Goncalo Ramos's equaliser after the ball fell kindly into his path from James Milner.
Alex Grimaldo and Jan Vertonghen both produced last-ditch defensive efforts to prevent Liverpool going into half time with the lead, but the latter was then at fault alongside goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos, as Diogo Jota picked out Roberto Firmino at the back stick following a catalogue of errors.
Firmino made it a brace for himself just 10 minutes later - meeting Kostas Tsimikas's free kick after he was allowed to drift into acres of space - but Nelson Verissimo's side refused to back down.
Twice Benfica saw goals initially ruled out for offside, and twice VAR saved their bacon, with Roman Yaremchuk rounding Alisson and finishing before the in-demand Nunez curled home from Joao Mario's touch.
Nunez forced Alisson into a strong save from a well-struck volley not long after and issued a rallying cry to the visiting crowd, but it was Liverpool who next had the ball in the back of the net, although Sadio Mane's close-range finish was from an offside position.
Mohamed Salah went close to becoming Liverpool's all-time leading Champions League goalscorer at Anfield right at the death, but his curling effort flashed just over before Benfica celebrations were yet again muted, with the linesman denying Nunez another goal for offside just before the final whistle blew.
Ben Knapton
