Former Liverpool attacker suffers Champions League heartbreak despite scoring as history repeats itself

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The Champions League is one of the hardest competitions to win in world football.

To achieve this a club needs good coaching, some financial backing and a bit of luck. Liverpool were last victorious in the competition in 2019, before suffering a defeat in the 2022 final at the hands of Real Madrid.

Arne Slot’s team have made the competition look easy so far this season as Liverpool looked comfortable against the likes of Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen in the league phase.

The Dutch coach will find out who his team will face in the Round of 16 on Friday with Benfica and potentially, Paris Saint-Germain being the Premier League club’s next opponents, as the Ligue 1 champions have a 3-0 advantage over Brest heading into the second leg.

Benfica’s successful overcoming of Monaco in the play-off round has denied Liverpool a reunion with one of their former stars, despite the forward grabbing a goal on Tuesday night.

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Takumi Minamino goal was not enough for Monaco

Benfica and Monaco played out a thriller on Tuesday night in the Champions League as the contest would end 3-3 in Portugal.

That result saw the Portuguese outfit advance to the Round of 16 on aggregate 4-3 having won the first leg 1-0.

The match would see former Liverpool star Takumi Minamino equalise for Monaco on the night to make it 1-1, which gave the Ligue 1 outfit hope after falling 2-0 behind on aggregate.

Minamino struggled at Monaco when he first arrived, but this season has seen improvement from the Japanese star.

The forward has produced five goals and five assists throughout the 2024/25 campaign so far and he will be disappointed to be missing out on a potential reunion with Liverpool, where he also suffered Champions League heartbreak.

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Takumi Minamino’s Champions League heartbreak at Liverpool

During his two-and-a-half seasons at Liverpool, Minamino would pick up a Premier League medal, but the Champions League was a competition the Japanese star would have no luck in.

Jurgen Klopp was a fan of Minamino but the forward would not have a big impact on Liverpool’s run to the Champions League final in 2022.

Nevertheless, the former Liverpool star would have played his part in helping his teammates there and the heartbreak for the Japan international would have been no different from the players that featured in the final in Paris.

History repeated itself in the competition on Tuesday night for Minamino. Although it wasn’t a final Monaco loss, the Japanese star would have been excited about a potential return to Anfield.