Will we see yet another comeback from Liverpool in the Champions League as they did against Barcelona? Or we will see another leg of total humiliation from the Los Blancos?
Liverpool travels to Madrid for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 match on Wednesday night, where they will play Real Madrid, needing to conjure up some Bernabeu magic to extend their European run.
Only the most calamitous of collapses would see the tickets to the quarterfinals change hands after Carlo Ancelotti’s veteran European team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win the first leg 5-2 at Anfield three weeks ago.
Real Madrid vs Liverpool – Preview
Even when Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez sent the Anfield crowd into raptures (the latter of whom received quite the helping hand, or knee, from Thibaut Courtois), Carlo Ancelotti remained stone-faced, and his team’s early mistakes only served to highlight how incredible their five-goal victory was.
With a pass straight to Vinicius Junior’s leg, Alisson Becker rivaled Thibaut Courtois for the night’s worst mistake. In the waning seconds of the first half, the Brazilian starlet scored twice, before Eder Militao’s header and Karim Benzema’s brace capped off a legendary Merseyside thrashing.
The reigning La Liga champions lost their next three domestic matchups, including a 1-0 defeat to Barcelona in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal. However, they bounced back with a convincing 3-1 victory over Espanyol last weekend, showing that they still had plenty of energy left after seemingly using it all up at Anfield.
The Predicted XI
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Keita; Salah, Jota, Gakpo, Nunez.
The first step toward salvation on Wednesday would be to prioritize an incredible Champions League comeback, and Klopp refused to wave the white flag after watching the first-leg drubbing.
Meanwhile, losing on the South Coast allowed Tottenham Hotspur to distance themselves even further from the competition for fourth place in the Premier League table.
Thus, a win for the Reds will be good to boost confidence and gain some momentum for the rest of the season.
