Liverpool 2-5 Real Madrid
This was supposed to be a blockbuster match up, a game between two of the Champions League’s most historic sides, instead, it was something staggering.
The game started strangely, perhaps the Anfield atmosphere strangling the visitors in the first 15 minutes as Madrid dug a hole for themselves by shipping two early goals. The second was particularly disappointing, coming via a terrible goalkeeping blunder by Thibaut Courtois. It felt as though this last 16, first-leg tie could be about to slip away from them. And yet Los Blancos remained calm.
Instead, it was Klopp’s men who fell apart at the first sign of danger. Vinícius Júnior curled home beautifully with zero resistance from the Liverpool defenders around him in the 21st minute, and what followed was truly a microcosm of the Reds season.
That second half was a chastening experience. It started to look grim just before the break anyway, as Allison inexplicably fumbled a clearance, kicking the ball against Vinícius Júnior to hand Madrid the equalizer.
By the second half, the collective confidence was at its lowest, a performance riddled with individual errors and shoddy defending.
Éder Militao was unmarked to head home a Luka Modrić Free kick, and Karim Benzema soon made it 4-2 with a deflected goal that came about thanks to next to no defensive effort by the hosts.
Modric, 37, then sprinted through a nonexistent midfield, having won the ball off Fabinho, leaving Stefan Bajcetic sprawling. He found Vinícius, who squared for Karim Benzema. The Frenchman waited, took his time, left Alisson on the floor and curled it home with his left foot.
5-2 at Anfield. The time has surely come to accept that this is the end of the road for this great Liverpool side of the last four years.
