Dream goals, goalkeeper mistakes – and in the end a debacle for Jürgen Klopp’s FC Liverpool: The Reds conceded the next bitter bankruptcy against their feared opponents Real Madrid on a spectacular Champions League evening and are on the verge of the end after the round of 16 first leg. Despite a two-goal lead, Liverpool lost 5-2 (2-2) and thus clearly missed revenge for last summer’s defeat in the final. In the second leg on March 15, defending champions Real have home advantage.
The offensive players shone at Anfield Road, while both goalkeepers made bad dropouts at the back. Real led early on through a hacking goal from Darwin Nunez (4′) and a waking moment from Mohamed Salah (14′): the Egyptian took advantage of a mistake made by Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who stumbled the ball. Vinicius Junior (21st/36th) soon equalized, first worth seeing, then without much effort: Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson shot his Brazilian compatriot. After half-time, Eder Militao (47′) and Karim Benzema (55’/67′) followed suit.
Real remains a nightmare for Liverpool. The last win against Madrid was 14 years ago. Real not only won the Champions League final last year, but also the 2018 final against Liverpool. In addition, the Madrilenians prevailed against the English in the 2021 quarter-finals. Most recently, Real lost to Liverpool in the premier class in 2009.
This is one of the reasons why the starting position seemed quite clear in advance. The English, currently only average in the domestic Premier League, had no reason “for a big mouth,” said Klopp. Real was the favourite, and surprisingly Toni Kroos was one of them. The 2014 world champion had recovered from his stomach problems in time, had traveled to the team on Tuesday morning, but was only substituted on in the 87th minute in the evening.
Antonio Rüdiger was in the starting XI, and Real’s defense around the German international had a lot of work to do at the start. Liverpool operated strenuous pressing – and then did magic. Salah found the gap strongly, Nunez converted even stronger with the hoe that shook Anfield Road. Real tried to organize himself, but only ten minutes later Courtois dared his momentous dance with Salah.
The away task was now much more difficult for Madrid, but the defending champions remained remarkably calm. And two minutes after the restart, Real finally turned the game around, Eder Militao headed in a free kick from Luka Modric to make it 3-2. A little later, Benzema increased his first goal of this Champions League season to 4: 2, Benzema’s shot after interacting with Rodrygo was deflected intolerably. Twelve minutes later, the French striker scored again after a well-played counterattack.