A night that will remembered for a long time happened in Liverpool. Real Madrid paid a magnificent tribute to honorary president Amancio Amaro with a memorable display at Anfield. A minute's silence was held at Anfield in memory of Amancio Amaro, a thrilling night started for very football fan. Everything was against the madridistas after goals from Darwin Núñez and Salah in the first quarter of an hour, but the Whites once again showed that they can overcome all adversity and went in at half-time with the game all square after Vini Jr's brace. The second half was nothing short of spectacular and Ancelotti's men completed the comeback with a header from Militao and another two goals from Benzema.
Liverpool made a high tempo start to the contest. Their approach reaped rewards when Darwin Núñez's back-heeled goal from Salah's assist in the 4th minute paid dividends opened the scoring. Ten minutes later, Salah made it 2-0 after Courtois stumbled and took a poor touch in the box, allowing the Egyptian to pounce and score with just one touch. The tie seemed like an uphill struggle after just a quarter of an hour, but Madrid held their nerve and reduced the home side's lead with a terrific finish from Vini Jr. in the 21st minute. The Brazilian conjured space in the box after collecting the ball on the edge and rifled the ball through the narrowest of gaps between three Liverpool defenders and past Alisson into the far corner.
The Premier League side responded four minutes later through Darwin Núñez after a series of rebounds. Militão cleared the ball off the goal-line and Alaba got injured in the process – the Austrian was subsequently replaced by Nacho. In the space of half an hour the clash had produced three goals in what was an entertaining end-to-end affair. Vini Jr. almost drew the Whites level with a replica of his first goal but Alisson pulled off a fine save to deny the forward on 31’. Next, it was the Liverpool goalkeeper's turn to gift a goal after a Joe Gomez passback. Alisson attempted to return the ball to his defender but the pass ricocheted off his international teammate and looped behind him into the goal.
Then this happened just before the end of the 1st half: a textbook, one-touch counter-attack: Courtois played the ball to Valverde, who laid it off to Vini Jr and his left-footed cross was cleared by Robertson as Rodrygo was waiting to head the ball into the net. Although the Whites could have added a third goal in stoppage time, the teams went in at half-time at 2-2. However, it looked that things had become easier for Real Madrid, even why no one could foresee what was to come next, as things went from bad to worse for Liverpool after the break.
The second half couldn't have got off to a better start. In the 48th minute, Madrid turned the game on its head from a set-piece. A well-worked free-kick routine saw Luka Modric find an unmarked Eder Militao who made it 3-2 just after the restart. The European champions' reaction was dramatic, and they increased their lead about eight minutes later. Karim Benzema got in on the action with his first of the night. After exchanging passes linking quite well with Rodrygo on the right, his shot took a deflection off Joe Gomez which left Alisson desperately trying to stop the ball from flying in. 2-4 and Liverpool looked already devastated.
The fifth goal for Los Blancos was all about Luka Modric's energy and drive in midfield. Ancelotti's men carried on pushing forward and they eventually found the 5th goal. After quickly interrupting a pass from Fabinho, the Croatian burst forward in a counter attack overcoming Fabinho himself and then Bajetic, before passing the ball to Vini Jr., to the left, with the latter serving Benzema in the middle. The Frenchman showed great footwork to sit Alisson down and dodge the efforts of the three defenders that had managed to quickjly return. With the cut-back and the left-footed kick he blasted the ball in to make it 2-5.
From that moment on, Madrid were able to hold on to their lead. Liverpool tried to do something but never threatened to score in a serious way. Real Madrid are now in a great position ahead of the return leg at the Bernabeu on March 15. The big games keep coming, too, with Atletico Madrid then Barcelona up next for Los Blancos. With this victory the team’s confidence is surely increased and this will help them approach the these upcoming big games in a better way.
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