It’s not great to be struggling for form when you have to play Real Madrid.
Just ask Liverpool, who fell 5-2 at Anfield after some true Champions League Madness™ saw Real come from 2-0 down to emerge victorious in their last-16 first leg clash.
Liverpool were two goals to the good after just 14 minutes. It looked like they could be using this game as a platform to turn around an increasingly disappointing season. It was a thrilling, authoritative start for the Reds, the kind of soccer they haven’t been able to produce consistently in the 2022-23 season.
It’s just that they had to play the rest of the game.
Stung into action, Real Madrid rode a combination of Vinícius Junior’s brilliance, Liverpool mistakes, misfortune, and some ruthless counter-attacking play in the second half to produce five unanswered goals and take total control ahead of the second leg on March 15.
It all started so well for Liverpool. With Anfield in full voice, Mohamed Salah slipped a clever pass in behind to find Darwin Núñez, who supplied a stunning backheel finish to open the scoring in the fourth minute.
Liverpool had created a lead with ingenuity, and expanded it with luck. Thibaut Courtois would have certainly preferred a better back-pass from Dani Carvajal, but still had plenty of time to get the ball away without much trouble.
Instead of an easy clearance, the Belgium No. 1 produced a disaster. His chest trap was casual enough to let Salah pressure him, and Courtois seemed to short-circuit. The ball bounced off of his knee as he tried to turn, setting Salah up to simply flick the ball past him.
If only the game could have just ended there for Liverpool. Unfortunately they had over 75 minutes left, and Real Madrid is still Real Madrid.
Vini Jr., who scored the winner in last year’s Champions League final between these teams, somehow conjured up a goal after he and Benzema combined despite being surrounded by seven red shirts.
When you’re in the kind of form Vini Jr. is in, a wall of defenders simply isn’t a problem. The Brazil attacker seemed like he was going to carry on dribbling only to snap a lovely, angled shot past Alisson and into the bottom corner.
With the game now well and fully careening out of control, it was only fair that Liverpool — having scored and conceded a golazo — cough up a howler to match Courtois’ error.
Alisson obliged, firing a low pass attempt right into Vini Jr. as the Brazilian applied only token pressure on a back-pass. The way Liverpool’s season is going, everyone in the building knew what was coming: a looping rebound that floated over Alisson, sucking the air out of Anfield and equalizing the score.
Halftime came, and whatever Jurgen Klopp did to try and get his side going again, it went out the window within seconds. Éder Militão took advantage of some absurdly hesitant set piece defending, trotting away from his markers to nod home a Luka Modrić free kick.
Barely 100 seconds into the second half, a game that had started so well for the Reds was now one they trailed.
Liverpool’s poor defensive work was one thing, but they were also cursed on the day, and those factors combined as Real made it 4-2. The Reds seemed to defuse the threat as Rodrygo’s cross was tipped away by Stefan Bajčetić, but no one could beat Carvajal to the resulting loose ball.
Rodrygo got the chance to try again, and this time he and Benzema casually carved a stagnant Liverpool open. The result? A classic “you make your own luck” goal, as Benzema’s shot glanced off of Joe Gomez’s calf, wrong-footing Alisson.
Liverpool was now having a full-fledged nightmare, and the last thing you want to do against this Real Madrid team is cough up a cheap turnover and open yourself to a counter.
Fabinho unfortunately did just that, losing the ball to Modrić with Liverpool having eight players in the attack. From there Real Madrid made it look simple: Modrić to Rodrygo to Benzema, who drew Alisson out only to cut the ball away from him and slide it into an empty net.
Los Merengues‘ demolition job was complete.
Liverpool laments defending on Militão goal
“Super start. We had everything we wanted,” Jurgen Klopp told beIN Sports after the match, before turning his attention to Real’s third goal.
“I’m really not sure if it’s a foul at all,” said Klopp, “but even when it’s not a foul and they get a free kick, we have to defend the free kick better. In that space, it’s not allowed that [Militão]’s alone. Absolutely not possible.”
“We made too many mistakes. Real Madrid punished us every time tonight,” lamented Jordan Henderson to BT Sport. “It’s difficult to come here and speak. Yes, they have a lot of quality. When you’re not 100% defending they punish you… The second goal obviously is a mistake. The third we’ll be disappointed with. That’s when the game went away from us.”
[lawrence-related id=14162,14107,13970]
