Liverpool exited the Champions League at the hands of old foes Real Madrid on Wednesday night after being unable to pull off another European miracle.
The Reds lost 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu on the night, with Karim Benzema scoring the only goal of the game, and 6-2 on aggregate after two legs.
It was the first time that Jurgen Klopp’s side had been knocked out of the Champions League last-16 stage since the 2019/20 season, when they lost to Real's city rivals Atletico Madrid. Liverpool will now resume their fight for a top-four place in the Premier League after the international break.
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Spanish media outlets were in attendance at the Bernabeu. And here's a round-up of what they had to say (Note: The text has been translated from Spanish to English)...
Orpheus Suarez, via El Mundo
“I rule here. The king of the Champions League yelled it at another member of European heraldry, like a nobleman sorrowful for fear at the foot of his battlements. Liverpool felt it to the point of giving up the suicidal charge of those who fight and die for honor. Madrid, just in case, did not even let him think about it, also winning in this round of 16 with the goal of an injured gentleman. Benzema did not need to be who he is to score, because everyone understood who and how they have to represent. The Champions League is his battlefield, in which he only left the nostalgia of his anthem for the rival.
“Of the last three clashes with Liverpool, the final in Paris and the first leg at Anfield, this return at the Bernabéu was the one that Madrid faced with the greatest conviction from the start, although the result had nothing to do with the drunkenness of 2-5 of the way dominant in the game and firm in duels, he knew how to protect himself against the passing of time that penalised Liverpool through long possessions, and activate himself to counteract in space, which was how the goal came. In both fortunes, Kroos emerged imperially, like a kaiser from midfield. Ancelotti placed Camavinga next to him, in the place where he likes the heights the most, and the Italian knows well that it is better to be at peace with the sky. The Frenchman certainly likes and likes himself, with a powerful physical display, although he still has to improve in adjusting the passes. Mistakes in that area are a sin.
“Against Liverpool the sins are usually goals. But Klopp's boys were not the choir boys this time. They did not believe in his melody. The German was right when he said that at the Bernabéu only he believed in a comeback. Liverpool are fearsome when they act like those rock bands that leave it all on stage. He needs frenzy, utopia, as it has been at other times in his history, the three goals conceded in the middle of a Champions League final, precisely against Ancelotti, or against Messi's Barça at Anfield. In Madrid he did not start with that conviction and, instead, he found a lot in his rival.”
Jose Samano, via El Pais
“Reality is the dross of illusion. And Liverpool took a scourge of objectivity in Madrid. Real complied point by point with the script that required the match with a 2-5 starting point. He played with firmness and poise. Applied from start to finish, even with more energy than his pale rival, who never rebelled after the destruction of the first leg. Today is not enough. At times, as if the one who had to come back was Madrid. Maybe it was out of habit. The truth is that Real, never disturbed, prevailed through football, through vibrations, through wisdom. The seal was put by Benzema with a goal in the last stretch. Before, the local team had already recorded a battery of occasions. Liverpool, fired with Never Walk Alone for his gesture in the first leg with the late Amancio, didn't even ruffle his hair.”
German Bona, via Sport
“There was no miracle or anything that showed up. Liverpool proposed an open match against Real Madrid, but these 'Reds' have no soul. Jürgen Klopp continues without finding the formula against the Whites, who are already in the quarter-finals and expect a rival this Friday. Benzema scored a goal that did nothing more than certify what everyone already knew: that Ancelotti's men were going to move on.
“A give and take. This was the first half with little midfield and many arrivals and in which there were three clear chances per team. Liverpool came out with a very offensive XI aware that they had to get down to work from the start. Practically, four attackers, with Gapko ahead of the double pivot Fabinho-Milner and a line of three up, with Salah and Darwin lying further to the sides, and Diogo Jota as false '9'.”
Louis Grandson, via AS
“Madrid's fourteen European Cups have a reason. He loves and understands the competition in equal parts. His legend is forged in enthusiasm and craft. Through this second route he travelled against Liverpool on the way to the quarter-finals. He remained calm when Anfield came upon him and filed the case at the Bernabéu with a good reading of the game. The one that Kroos gave him. Hand in hand with the German, he was deactivating a Liverpool with more forwards than attack. It was not the suicide commando that was expected and neither was Madrid that sleeping team on their advantage. He had ambition and greatness. He won without needing it to leave the message that he is still here, in his garden.
“Madrid came out under threat: whoever has won a tie can only lose it. And even more so against Liverpool, for whom the games go tremendously, at the top of their lungs, those in which things always happen, too many times. An action team, in short, stuck in a desperate situation. Klopp's dream. Madrid himself added to that danger from others, who is more passionate than calculating, more accustomed to overcoming disadvantages than managing advantages. And his public is also in those, many times a rescue team and so few starters.”
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