It was, in the end, straightforward enough for Real Madrid. The reigning European champion progressed to the quarterfinal of the Champions League with a 1–0 second leg win over Liverpool for a 6–2 aggregate win. It was perhaps a more open game than Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti would have liked, but Liverpool never threatened the sort of surge that might have brought a comeback.
Jürgen Klopp had said before the game that Liverpool had a 1% chance of overturning the 5–2 first-leg deficit, but even by halftime that had come to seem a hugely generous assessment. Real Madrid made much of the early running and Alisson made fine saves to deny Vinícius Júnior from close range and then keep out an effort from outside the box from Eduardo Camavinga. As Luka Modrić fizzed a half-volley just over, the sense was that Madrid could simply pick its way through Liverpool when it felt like it. Midfield has been a problem area for Liverpool all season and the 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-4 shape preferred by Klopp here didn’t help matters. It wasn’t so much that Madrid had the better of things in midfield than that it had a midfield.
IMAGO/Propaganda Photo
