Champions League: 3 reasons behind Liverpool's 2-0 win over Porto

#2 Liverpool's defense deal with the danger posed by Marega

Van Dijk and Lovren ensure that Porto returned home without an away goal

Dejan Lovren made his first appearance in a while, as the Croatian paired up with Virgil Van Dijk to take on Porto in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final encounter.

Up against a generally well organized Liverpool defense came Moussa Marega, who has been Porto's talisman in their domestic campaign. The duo of Lovren and Van Dijk took a gamble of playing a high line on various occasions but went unpunished during the course of the game.

There were certain instances where Marega broke the offside trap and ran behind the Liverpool defense, only to be denied by some smart saves and interceptions by the likes of Alisson, Lovren and Van Dijk. The duo of Lovren and Van Dijk dealt with the threat posed by Soares and Oliver Torres as they emerged with an all-important clean sheet and denied Porto from scoring a vital away goal.

Lovren ended the game with a pass accuracy rate of 88% and made four recoveries while Van Dijk ended the game with a pass accuracy rate of 89%, winning 3/3 tackles and recovering possession on ten occasions.