Sergio Conceicao Admits Tactical Porto Plan Aimed at Nullifying Threat of Mohamed Salah & Sadio Mane

Porto manager Sergio Conceicao has admitted that his side attempted to restrict Liverpool's freedom in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie, nullifying the threats posed by Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane specifically.

The plan worked to a degree, with the Reds only winning 2-0 on the night, thanks to goals from Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino.

Jurgen Klopp's men are overwhelming favourites to qualify after controlling much of the play at Anfield, with Conceicao revealing after the game that he made tactical tweaks designed to prevent Liverpool's dangerous wingers from cutting in on their stronger feet.

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Telling his post-match press conference (via 101 Great Goals), Conceicao said: "We tried to hinder the areas where Liverpool are strong. 

"We wanted to maintain good control of the space in our defensive third because Salah and Mané both play well on the inside".

Despite rarely troubling the home goal, Porto can take encouragement from the fact that they were able to restrict Liverpool to just three shots on target. When these two sides met in the previous round of last year's Champions League, the Reds thrashed the Portuguese champions 5-0 in the first leg, rendering the second match a dead rubber.

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This time around, Porto will at least have something to play for as they attempt to overturn the two goal deficit. With Liverpool's poor record away from home in Europe this season, the Dragões may be quietly confident ahead of their meeting next Wednesday.

They have previous form this season of overcoming a deficit too, having seen off Roma in the last 16 after trailing by a goal heading into the second leg.