Real Madrid vs Liverpool 3-1, a result that many people did not expect. Why? Because there exists a general opinion that Real Madrid has already given its best and cannot bring anything new or reach higher levels of football. But experienced teams like Real Madrid have always something to say and can get great results in each game they play!
Heading into the first-leg against Liverpool, Zinedine Zidane had too many headaches to handle. First, Real Madrid is in the middle of a tough schedule with El Clásico sandwiched between both UCL legs, then multiple key players are injured and finally they lost Raphael Varane to COVID-19 hours before the game.
Yet still, Real Madrid found a way to work around all those obstacles and put on arguably one of their best performances in the recent weeks. Madrid schooled Liverpool several times on Tuesday. It is true that they were aided by a poor first-half performance from the visitors but in the execution of their gameplan, defending maneuvers with some of the key players missing, quality on the ball control and escaping Liverpool’s press, Zinedine Zidane’s team were comfortably superior.
The match started very bad for Liverpool. They were confused and slow. Real Madrid did a great job on taking the ball back after losing it and circulating the ball fast to catch the opponent as unprepared as possible. With many stars missing, like Ramos, Varane, Carvajal or Hazard everyone thought that Real Madrid would suffer very much. But it was completely the opposite. The remaining senators did a great job when dealing with the organisation of the team. They were everywhere on the field, pressed the opponent carefully and systhematically, provided balance and fed the youngsters several times. The result: Militao and Nacho blocked the opponent's strikers accurately against every prediction, always backed up by Lucas Vasquez and Mendy (who also made seroius attempts to help the offensive department), Casemiro won 9 duels and Toni Kroos + Luka Modric assisted Vinicius for the first and the third goal. Besides that it was exactly Toni's long ball which forced a mistake by Alexander-Arnold; a mistake from which Marco Asensio took the most. A strong defense, a solid midfield and a forward like Benzema who his best to create spaces for his teammates and tried to do everything: shots, dribbles and accurate passes. The rest was greatly completed by the scorers; Vinicius, who was named Man of the Match and Asensio who has been on the scoresheet for the past few matches and is showing more reliablity as the season progresses into its final phase.
However, the rhythm of the game was not the same during the match. If the first half had Real giving the best and being superior in very aspect, the second half presented something more complicated. Liverpool increased their rhythm and things were not easy. Salah and Mane seemed more motivated and turned on their engines. It was exactly Salah that scored in the 50th minute with a bit of luck, but however Madrid showed that the defensive line is not a weak part of the team. There were about 3-4 attempts from Liverpool against 10 from Real Madrid, but this does not mean that Liverpool's attempts were not dangerous. Also they played several minutes near the box keeping Madrid's defense under pressure, but the white shirts were never innatentive. Besides that, Zizou's boys also used the counterattacking strategy and long balls after breaking opponent's attempts and all of these turned out very effective.
In overall, a great performance by all of the players, especially Vinicius who proved himself in front of everyone as a youngster who is improving day by day and showing that he can be a real top player. Most of the time, especially in the first half, there was only Real Madrid commanding the game and destroying every attempt of the opponent quickly leaving no room for dangerous attacks most of the time. It was a Real Madrid that showed exactly what it is: an experienced team that is not afraid of any opponent and has great confidence. That confidence springs from the senators and gets shared at the youngsters who prove that playing at Real Madrid makes everyone more mature and proficient. The result could have been even better if the Galacticos were a bit more accurate and altruistic. Maybe this is a point that needs to be taken more seriously in consideration and to be improved as much as possible for the next game. In Champions League all of the teams play with their best version of themselves and the goals advantage is never enough. One small mistake may turn into a nightmare and ruin everything.
Real Madrid will probably have for the second match some of the senators that missed the first game and that may make the situation even better. Going with a two goal advantage at Anfield is really a great achievement. All they have to do is be careful and make the most out of the chances that will be available. Liverpool will not stay idly and will try the best to make use of that goal they scored in Madrid. Every goal in the opponents home is very precious and may turn out extremely useful. Zidane's team should keep an eye on this fact. Now, head on El Clasico, before returning to the Reds.
Hala Madrid!
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