Real Madrid won with authority against Liverpool on Tuesday, February 21 (5-2). Led very quickly 2-0, the people of Madrid left the lawn of Anfield with a good mattress before the round of 16 return.
A crazy match, up to the poster between Liverpool and Real Madrid, remake of the C1 final last season. This evening, you had to sit in the stands or turn on your television set on time so as not to miss the start of hostilities between the two European clubs.
Two goalies, two dumplings
At Anfield, coach Ancelotti hopes to repeat the feat of May 2022 against a Liverpool with extremely irregular performances since the start of the English championship. The Italian technician must purse his lips when Real is already in difficulty with a first goal conceded at the start of the meeting. Darwin Nunez scores from close range with a magnificent right foot heel on a low cross from Mohamed Salah (4th). Ten minutes later, the Pharaoh took advantage of a gross error from Thibaut Courtois to double the lead. The Belgian misses a control after a back pass from Carvajal, Salah only has to push the ball into his cage.
Liverpool, which is lagging in the league, can’t dream of a better start. The extremely irregular performances since the start of the championship, where the Reds have sometimes given the impression of having lost their intensity and their ruthless side, did not inspire confidence before this duel. The sequel will be less brilliant.
Because it is without counting on this devil of Vinicius Junior, the only scorer in the last C1 final, who reduced the score for Real with a perfectly curled low shot from the right which lodged in the small net (21st).
The match is quickly restarted with his double in the 36th minute, when the former Flamengo player, on an incredible blunder from Alisson who raises on him, against. Once again, Real found the necessary resources to get back in place despite a catastrophic start to the match. Liverpool, which has not won any of its last six meetings with Real Madrid in European competition (one draw, five defeats), can tear its hair out.
Benzema the good return
At the start of the second half, Real took advantage of a free kick from Luka Modric to score a third goal thanks to a header from Eder Militão (47th). Absent from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and regularly injured since the start of 2023, Karim Benzema, who is returning to the continental scene for this gala poster, also has his say. If he is still Real’s top scorer with 16 goals in all competitions since the start of the season, he still had not opened his counter in the Champions League this season.
On the lawn of Liverpool, the current Ballon d’Or, second top scorer in the history of the club behind Cristiano Ronaldo, made the break by scoring Madrid’s fourth goal (55th). He did it again on a counter by eliminating the English goalkeeper who came out of the area and adjusting his ball despite three defenders in front of the cage. Benzema now has 88 goals in 147 matches in the competition.
Real Madrid and its 14 C1 titles are on track to reach the quarter-finals. The second leg will take place on March 15 at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.
The good operation of Naples
In the other meeting of the evening, Naples made an excellent operation by winning easily in Frankfurt and could discover the European top 8 for the first time in its history. With two goals behind, the Europa League holder will have to surpass himself in three weeks in Italy if he wants to continue the adventure. A match that the German club will have to negotiate without its offensive master asset, the French vice-world champion Randal Kolo-Muani, excluded in the second half for a big sole on the ankle of the former Marseillais André Zambo Anguissa. Naples was able to count on the effectiveness of its Nigerian goleador Victor Osimhen, imitated by defender Giovanni Di Lorenzo.