There was no historic comeback for Liverpool. Real Madrid’s title protection within the Champions League rolls into the quarterfinals. Liverpool by no means actually got here near overcoming its three-goal deficit from the primary leg in opposition to the titleholders on the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Wednesday, dropping 1-0 to finish its hopes of one other run to the ultimate.
Karim Benzema scored late and Madrid superior to the final eight for the third straight season with a 6-2 mixture rating following a 5-2 win from the primary leg in England, when it rallied from two objectives down early within the first half. Liverpool was making an attempt to tug off one thing by no means performed earlier than within the Champions League — erase a three-goal loss as a customer. Only 5 instances the workforce that misplaced at dwelling rallied within the second leg in Europe’s high membership competitors.
“You needed a special performance and we didn’t show a special performance,” Liverpool supervisor Jurgen Klopp stated. “In moments, it was a good performance, but Real Madrid was the team in control the whole game. Madrid was the better team and deserved to advance.”
‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ rings across the Bernabeu after Real Madrid knock Liverpool OUT of the Champions League _ pic.twitter.com/3UYtboWpEW
— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) March 15, 2023
The solely time Madrid didn’t advance within the Champions League after profitable the primary leg on the street was in 2019, when it was eradicated by Ajax within the spherical of 16. It had received six of its final seven matches in opposition to Liverpool within the match, drawing one other. “It was the type of match we wanted,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti stated. “It was difficult for them to press up front. The team played well, it was focused from the start.”
Napoli defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 within the different round-of-16 match on Wednesday to affix Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Manchester City within the draw for the quarterfinals on Friday.
Benzema scored from shut vary after a go by Vinícius Júnior within the 79th minute. The France striker, who had missed Madrid’s Spanish league win in opposition to Espanyol final weekend due to an damage, has scored 13 objectives in his final eight Champions League knockout stage matches. He limped through the objective celebration however stated afterward it was only a knock.
“It was a complicated match, against a good opponent,” Benzema stated. “We showed from the start that we wanted to attack, so it was a good match for the fans and we are into the quarterfinals.”
Liverpool got here out with an attack-minded lineup and confirmed its intentions early, with Darwin Núñez forcing Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to make a troublesome save on a breakaway seven minutes into the match. It was an open match on the Bernabéu and Madrid had its probabilities as properly, with Eduardo Camavinga coming near scoring within the twentieth with a shot from exterior the realm that struck the crossbar after a deflection by Alisson Becker. The Liverpool goalkeeper additionally stopped an opportunity by Madrid ahead Vinícius Júnior within the first half and one other within the second in a one-on-one state of affairs with midfielder Federico Valverde.
Klopp saved making an attempt to push his workforce ahead from the sideline, however because the minutes handed it grew to become clear it wasn’t going to be sufficient for the English workforce. Liverpool had managed an enormous comeback at dwelling within the 2019 semifinals, rallying in opposition to one other Spanish membership, Barcelona. It received 4-0 after dropping 3-0 on the Camp Nou to maintain alive a run that ultimately ended with the workforce profitable the trophy.
Madrid, which had overwhelmed Liverpool in final yr’s remaining, performed in its three hundredth Champions League sport. The loudspeakers on the Bernabéu performed Liverpool’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone” anthem on the finish of the match as followers from each golf equipment applauded.
“We are two heavyweights who meet each other quite frequently in international football and quite clearly we respect each other a lot,” Klopp said. “It was a really nice gesture, absolutely.”
