Liverpool, Following their 3-1 victory away at Benfica, Liverpool are close to clinching qualification to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, which would bring them one step closer to an unprecedented quadrable.
Liverpool have already clinched the Carabao Cup this season, and Jurgen Klopp’s side are just 14 games away from also winning the English Premier League (EPL), the Champions League and the FA Cup – a target that seems difficult to achieve, but also feasible.
The EPL team that came closest to securing the quadruple was Manchester United, who won the treble after securing the EPL, FA Cup and Champions League in 1988/99.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City won the league, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Community Shield in 2018/19, but they failed to clinch the Champions League trophy.
“No, it’s not [a realistic target] and it never was,” Klopp told BT Sport when asked about the possibility of winning the quadruple. “You cannot plan it and the schedule makes it really difficult.
“We won the first competition, that’s why we are the only ones who can win the quadruple. But Man City are probably favourites for the treble, that’s how it is.”
Manchester City and Liverpool could face each other up to three times in the remainder of the season in the event they both reach the Champions League final.
Liverpool are trailing Manchester City by one point with eight games to go until the end of the EPL season. The two teams face each other at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, which could end up being a title decider.
The Reds were 14 points behind the Sky Blues in January, but they have gone 11 games without losing to close the gap to the EPL leaders, registering 10 wins in a row and keeping eight clean sheets in the last 10 games.
After taking on Manchester City, Liverpool will also have to face Manchester United, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur.
After winning all their six of their group-stage games – beating Atletico Madrid, Porto and AC Milan – Liverpool qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League, where they knocked out Inter 2-1 on aggregate to secure their place in the quarter-finals.
The Reds were lucky to avoid a tough draw in the next round, beating Benfica 3-1 on the road in the first leg of the quarter-finals. Should they qualify, Klopp’s side will face the winner of the tie between Bayern Munich and Villarreal.
Liverpool will face Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals after eliminating Shrewsbury Town, Cardiff City, Norwich City and Nottingham Forest in the previous rounds. Should they beat the Sky Blues, they will take on the winner of the other semi-final between Chelsea and Crystal Palace.
After knocking out Norwich, Preston, Leicester City and Arsenal, Liverpool qualified for the final and then beat Chelsea on penalties to win a record ninth Carabao Cup trophy, the Spanish MARCA newspaper reported.
Source: Oman News Agency