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It was made for a classic, and finished in almost classic buskis.
It was the wrong decisions, the slips and the own goals that made the Anfield night magical.
It reeks of gegenpress, quick changes and heavy football beforehand. There were reasonably good reasons to hope that Liverpool and Real Madrid would live up to their reputations as Europe’s new Clasico. We’ve been dealing with two teams that have lost more (Liverpool) or less (Real Madrid) the domestic league this year and we only have the European title to play for. Of course, we had a series of high-octane Spanish and English encounters from the past few years with us on tonight’s adventure. However, the first half was unusually uneventful in terms of intensity. Even stranger: it was still 2-2 after 45 minutes.
Perhaps more than anything, Darwin Nunes was the cuckoo when Liverpool collapsed and relinquished the Premier League title yesterday. Despite his first name, Jurgen Klopp still gave him confidence and after three minutes into the game tonight, it was clear why.
Nunes made it 1-0 with a wonderful pass from Mohamed Salah as if nothing had happened.
Less than ten minutes later, Thibaut Courtois misjudged the ball and slipped (or whatever he was doing) the ball with Mohamed Salah at his feet. bad idea. 2-0 to Liverpool.
Some Real Madrid players have won the title five times and may think they own it. Perhaps they were right, Jurgen Klopp said before the game.
Who will stop Real Madrid?
The repeated mishaps against Real Madrid are one of Klopp’s real flaws in his CV since his arrival to Merseyside. Before tonight’s showdown, he watched the final in Paris last spring for the first time and said:
– I don’t think you can panic Real Madrid. Don’t lose confidence for a second. They don’t have to give their best and they still have a chance. That’s the difference and it’s very special,” Klopp said in one of his team’s best-ever analyzes.
But here Real Madrid stood two goals behind at Anfield. Will they still panic? Will they organize Ancelotti’s transformation? Wait until the last quarter and pull a quick three? better. Real Madrid didn’t have that kind of patience today. They didn’t panic either. On the other hand, they had Vinicius Junior score two goals before half-time, the last of which was a great challenge from Alisson Becker, thus equalizing on a goalkeeper error.
But unfortunately, we have to go fast after this, because the game saw the second half too and barely had time to start before Eder Militao headed in a Luka Modric free-kick in a really nice and well-placed effort. But mostly difficult. And unchecked.
And so it was reversed again, Carlo Ancelotti-style. And then Karim Benzema, transparent in the first half, had not yet presented himself. When he did, he was helped on a trot when Joe Gomez headed home the Frenchman in the 56th minute. Ten minutes later it was time again. In a quick turnaround as Luka Modric twisted the ball into midfield and Vinicius Benzema sent home into the penalty area, the Frenchman had to cheat Alisson a bit before making it 2-5 – two goals to five! Spaniards benefit. what’s up? Has Jurgen Klopp likely wondered if he speaks Spanish (maybe he does, who knows).
But among all the targets then? Yes, this was a fairly ordinary football match between two teams not exactly at the peak of their form, but where Real Madrid played well in the second half and left Liverpool with a three-goal lead before returning in three weeks. And as usual at this time of year, one has to ask the question: if Real Madrid are good without being particularly good, who’s going to stop them?