Saturday 28 / December / 2024
Liverpool: In a thrilling contest at Anfield, Real Madrid came back from two goals down to run out comfortable 5-2 winners over Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.
Liverpool got off to a dream start against the European champions, taking the lead inside four minutes. Mohamed Salah on the right played a lovely ball for Darwin Nunez who made a clever run across the defence then flicked the ball beyond a helpless Thibaut Courtois.
If they didn't already, fans must surely have thought they were dreaming when the lead was doubled 10 minutes later. Courtois stumbled and took a poor touch in the box, allowing Salah to pounce and score with just one touch, the Spanish MARCA newspaper reported.
By half time, however, Vinicius Junior had brought Liverpool back down to earth. First, the Brazilian conjured space in the box and whipped the ball past Alisson at his far post.
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.
Things went from bad to worse for Liverpool after the break. A well-worked free-kick routine saw Luka Modric find an unmarked Eder Militao who made it 3-2 just after the restart.
Eight minutes later, Karim Benzema got in on the action with his first of the night. After exchanging passes with Rodrygo on the right, his shot took a deflection off Joe Gomez which left Alisson stranded.
The fifth goal for Los Blancos was all about Luka Modric's energy and drive in midfield, bursting forward before feeding Vini who slipped it to Benzema. The Frenchman showed great footwork to sit Alisson down and blast the ball into the net despite the attentions of three defenders.
Real Madrid are now in a great position ahead of the return leg at the Bernabeu on 15 March 2023. The big games keep coming, too, with Atletico Madrid then Barcelona up next for Los Blancos.
