The highly anticipated Quater finals fixture between Madrid vs Liverpool of the Uefa Champions league lived up to the hype last night as the home team triumphed over a helpless Liverpool team.
13 times Champions RealMadrid who played without Sergio Ramos and Varane highly dominated proceedings from the sound of the whistle to the end of the game. Few hours to the start of the game against Liverpool, Raphael Varane was ruled out of the tie due to a positive Covid-19 test result and that created a la cuna in the defence for Zinedine Zidane.
Despite Varane’s absence, Zinedine Zidane lined up with Nacho and Militao in defense and they absolutely blew apart Liverpool’s attack. Liverpool who were on cloud 9 after their convincing 0-3 away win at Arsenal were brought back back to earth with a devastating display from Madrid. This was Liverpool’s first ever Quater finals fixture against a Spanish team.
A delightful high pass from Toni Kroos depleted Liverpool’s unrecognised Centre backs for Vinicius Jr to slot home pass Alisson in the 27th minute. Liverpool offered nothing going forward, they were all over the place, they also struggled to string couple of passes neither did they hold on strongly to the ball.
Another high pass from Toni Kroos led to another awful defensive display from Liverpool, this time Trent Alexander-Arnold was the culprit led to RealMadrid second goal scored by Marcos Asensio in the 36th minute. RealMadrid midfield broke every form of counter attacking play Liverpool threw at them in the first half. Klopp failed to record a shot on target in the first half.
Liverpool started the second half brightly which led to Gini Wijnaldum running across 3 players to find Diogo Jota who danced around the box 18 to assist Mohammed Salah for their only away goal in the 51st minute.
RealMadrid were not done yet, a pass from Benzema found Veteran Luka Modric who sleekly assisted Vinicius Jr for his brace in the 65th minute. The introduction of Roberto Firmino and Shakiri couldn’t break the doggedness of Madrid’s defence as the match ended 3—1.
Despite being on an 11 match winning streak, RealMadrid were the second favourites going into the game but the Champions league serial winners rose to the occasion when it mattered most to take a two goal lead back to Anfield. Liverpool will have to offer something better than what we saw last night if they are to displace Madrid in this stage, klopp need to bring back his high pressing game next week Wednesday against the aggressive Madrid side. The tie is still far from over.
The Champions League is still far from our reach, we haven’t achieved anything but we’re alive in two competitions and that gives us a lot of confidence.
We studied Liverpool pretty well before the game and prevented them from playing their way. 3-1 is a deserved victory, I’m proud of my team, we’re in good form but the players are very tired now. I hope we recover well for the Clasico.
Zidane reaction after the win over Liverpool
Vinicius Junior brilliance last night received different commendations from both fans and neutrals. His technicality of the game was never in doubt but last night performance emphasised why Florentina Perez splashed so much cash on the Brazilian. His calculated runs, pace, trickery and awareness of the game earned him the man of the match award.
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