All other things being equal, it turned out to play only half.
Half time equal
When Liverpool play, whatever the context, there is always room for a miracle or some kind of feat. Although now Jurgen Klopp’s Reds are not at all in a position to churn out such successes, and more often this season they have surprised with a minus, but the Champions League still has its magic, and Liverpool too. Only in this case, the “magic” Liverpool faced the no less “enchanted” Real Madrid, which showed its superpower last season at the same tournament. And he doesn’t think of slowing down, despite the almost lost title in La Liga.
So even a three-goal difference before the second leg did not eliminate the feeling of intrigue and anticipation of something interesting. And the first half didn’t really make it clear that one of the teams had a three-goal lead. It all started with a vigorous high pressing from Liverpool. True, Real Madrid very quickly began to respond in kind and showed that they could not stand the role of a team protecting a solid lead. This fact seems to have left Klopp’s players a bit perplexed, because they didn’t seem to expect such high pressure and such an intense brawl from Real Madrid, even away from Courtois’ goal.
However, in this desire of Madrid, they did not overload themselves, turning on such a regime only occasionally, in segments of different lengths. But they made it clear they would not be eyeing Liverpool’s attempts to win back three goals, but would look to increase their reserve. By the way, it doesn’t make much sense to evaluate the first half in terms of who looked better. In the end, both teams had excellent chances to score. But Courtois and Alisson, who showed circus performances at Anfield, worked very reliably this time and helped. Thus the first half, which could have been 2-2 in terms of content, ended in a goalless draw. Real Madrid were more than happy with this deal.
Liverpool burned out
But the Reds and Klopp absolutely not. It remains to speculate what the coach said to the team during the break, trying to further motivate and motivate him, but it only got worse. Yes, Liverpool still meant pressure, but they already did it somewhat nervously. Nunez, who often threatened the gates of Courtois before the break, has suddenly disappeared. Jota made unnecessary fouls and almost sat down on the card.
Melancholy and nervousness also poured over Salah, who started making mistakes in the simplest of situations, conceding inaccurate passes at close range and making slow or bad decisions. The same fate befell Trent on his side. In every action of the players in red you could feel the approach of trouble and the inevitable relegation. From angry impotence, Klopp, whose emotional behavior everyone is used to, behaved even more furious and borderline violent, for which he received a yellow card. The first of the game, by the way.
The apotheosis of nervous tension and confusion in the minds of Liverpool players was the missed goal. Former Ballon d’Or contender van Dijk, who was puffed up trying to get into the selection, looked pitiful when, first, Benzema lost the fight on the penalty line, and then hesitated top seed Vinicius , who appeared to have lost the ball and fell to the lawn, but allowed him to roll out an assist on Karim, who returned to duty on time.
The “royal” in the second half as a whole already appeared as a cold-blooded predator. He didn’t try to organize open races in both directions like in the first half. Madrid took a closer look at the enemy, assessed his condition and confidently crushed with high episodic pressure or counterattack runs. Moreover, the latter came out incredibly sharp, and if the implementation hadn’t let us down, Liverpool would have once again ended the match with a crushing defeat.
Numbers
Shots on goal (on goal): 17 (8) – 9 (5)
Judging by these stats, there’s no telling which team needed to fight back from a three-goal deficit. Real Madrid strike more often, strike more accurately, strike harder. Moreover, these indicators prove only half the difference. In the first half the situation was really the same. Real Madrid made nine shots and Liverpool eight. And four shots on goal. It’s easy to guess how surprisingly different the second half was.
In the second half, Liverpool managed just one shot. While Real Madrid performed eight times and again hit the target four times. Benzema and Valverde were the best hitters in the field. Karim has six tries and Fede has four. And they also turned out to be the most wasteful guys, due to the unimportant implementation of which the difference remained minimal. In Benzema this season, in principle, the view is a little knocked down, and Valverde does not have so many chances in every match, but he managed, for example, to spoil a clear one-on-one exit.
Ball possession (passing accuracy): 53.5% (86%) – 46.5% (85%)
And here Liverpool could have been expected to have more ball possession. However, it was he who was supposed to take an active position. Hand. Real Madrid, as already mentioned, under no circumstances wanted to hand over control of the situation to the opponent. And he proved it with the best work with the ball. Also, in the first half, when Madrid had decent stretches with pressing and rolling the ball, the home side’s percentage turned out to be even higher. It was they who lowered it a little, when in the second half they switched more sharply to the rails on the break. But no matter how this match turns out, Real Madrid were better in every way and deservedly went further.
