‘Brilliant’ Liverpool player’s pressing was off the charts vs Benfica, no wonder Jurgen Klopp is blown away

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Luis Diaz put in a performance to remember as Liverpool beat Benfica on Tuesday. The Colombian was electric.

Luis Diaz played an enormous role in Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Benfica. He more than earned his Man of the Match award as he essentially won the game for the Reds.

His header – after a sensational Trent Alexander-Arnold pass – assisted Sadio Mané for the second goal. He then provided the third himself, rounding the goalkeeper to put the tie in Liverpool’s hands.

Diaz was fantastic from front to back, doing absolutely everything Liverpool needed. It wasn’t just his efforts in front of goal that provided the win here, after all.

The Colombian’s pressing, for instance, was electric. Per Statsbomb data on FBref, Diaz pressed 15 times across his 90 minutes. That, on its own, isn’t all that impressive. In fact, Liverpool didn’t press as intensely here as they usually do – the likes of Diogo Jota usually average over 20 presses per 90. Only Naby Keita managed that here.

But what really stands out is how successful Diaz was. A ‘successful’ press is one where your team has the ball back within six seconds of the player applying pressure. They don’t ned to win the ball back themselves – only contribute to the turnover of possession.

Diaz was successful with 10 of his 15 presses – 66.6%, in other words. That’s an incredible rate. The best presser at Liverpool, James Milner, averages 42.5% this season.

Luis Diaz shines for Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp has spoken a lot about Diaz’s impact so far. He’s started remarkably quickly, clicking with the team in a fantastic way.

Klopp labelled him ‘brilliant’ earlier this season, while he described his quick start as ‘crazy’. The data has consistently backed that up, too.

And it does once again with the win against Benfica. Diaz scored, assisted, pressed to perfection and did all of the little things Liverpool love.

Even something as simple as ‘progressive carries’ – dribbling the ball at least five yards further forward – Diaz did 13 times. No one else matched that and only Mohamed Salah made it into double figures.

This was a fantastic performance from Diaz and goes a long way to demonstrating why Klopp and Liverpool are so impressed. They’ve signed a superstar here.