No trophy for Liverpool this year, then, after a couple of seasons of glory. All things must pass, as one of the city’s most famous old boys once sang. As they turn their attention to the battle for a top-four spot, you should turn yours to Andy Hunter’s match report. Clickity click! Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
Jurgen Klopp speaks to BT Sport. “You always need the key moments. The performance in general was good. We didn’t lose the tie tonight, we lost it in Madrid. But even if we played there 0-0 we probably would now still be playing because we didn’t score. It was uncomfortable for Madrid, definitely, we were good and aggressive and had a massive chance at the beginning of the game. Hypothetical I know, but if we got one it would have opened up for us. But if and when is not really interesting because we didn’t score. And it got more difficult because of the experience of Real Madrid, who played the time down, that’s how it is. It’s a little bit of ourselves this year. We have had ridiculous games this year when we should have won, but just don’t finish the situation. But we have to take that. It’s how it is. We know how many times Mo Salah finishes these things with closed eyes, but this time not. We had a lot of situations. After 60 minutes they took more control, we made changes but maybe the timing was not exactly right, we didn’t come through that well to be honest. Tonight it was absolutely OK, but we are out anyway. We love this competition, and for different reasons it is very important for the club. We can now concentrate, unfortunately, on the Premier League but that’s what we will do. Monday night at Leeds, who lead all physical stats, so we have to run and work our socks off to get anything!”
Jurgen Klopp’s post-match interview is on its way ... but in the meantime, Andy Hunter’s match report has landed.
The Bright Side with Luke Jones. “As a Liverpool fan, this is disappointing, but I’m reminded that not so long ago we would have ended a game like this with everyone chucking long balls at Steven Caulker. So onwards and upwards I guess.”
James Milner talks to BT Sport. “I thought our performance was good, the intensity and desire was good. We won the ball back well, pressed pretty well, but you can’t not take the chances we had. We had more than enough chances to do what we needed to do, and didn’t take them. That was the difference unfortunately. The positive is that we’re creating chances against a team like this, and the reaction after the first leg. We have done enough tonight to go through, I believe that, the chances we had, we were obviously the better team. If you get the first one it changes the game, but if you don’t take your chances you’re not going to go through. Maybe a few of the substitutions, we lost a few minutes while the guys got into the game, it cost us a few minutes of time, but we had chances once they came on. It’s a disappointing way to end, because if we’d played the first leg with that intensity I’m sure it could have been a different story. But ultimately we weren’t good enough over the two games. If we perform with the intensity we played with tonight, we can get a top-four spot.”
This quarter final was won by Real last week in Madrid ... and lost by Liverpool at Anfield tonight when they failed to convert a couple of big first-half chances that might have changed everything. Mohamed Salah and Georginio Wijnaldum were the culprits, but the pair have plenty of Champions League credit in the bank, having scored huge goals in the final and semi-final respectively en route to 2019 glory. It wasn’t to be today, though, Zinedine Zidane’s side holding on before gradually grinding the hosts down. The Spanish champions celebrate modestly, while Liverpool congratulate them with rueful smiles.
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FULL TIME: Liverpool 0-0 Real Madrid (agg 1-3)
Liverpool were the better team tonight, but Real Madrid defended staunchly ... and were the best team over the two legs. The Spanish giants deservedly progress to the semis, where they’ll face Chelsea.
90 min +4: Oxlade-Chamberlain burns the turf down the left with a stunning run, but there’s nobody in the box to convert the cross. He has another go a bit later, but Nacho wins a header and that’ll be that.
90 min +2: Liverpool’s last chance to worry Real is denied by Courtois, who smothers Salah’s attempt to chip him from the corner of the six-yard box. Salah had been put through cleverly by Thiago, who otherwise has done very little.
90 min +1: Jota crosses from the left, but once again there’s nobody there. On the touchline, Klopp appears incredibly irritated at his team’s inability to mix it up with the final ball.
90 min: Four extra minutes for a miracle. “This has been an honourable performance by the Reds,” writes Peter Oh. “Plenty of desire and skill on show. It’s hard to break down an experienced and resolutely defensive side like Real Madrid.”
88 min: More pretty but ineffectual Liverpool probing. They’ve got no presence in the box. Real are sitting back, and look totally comfortable.
86 min: Liverpool continue to huff and puff. Jota shovels a cross in from the left that momentarily confuses Courtois, but there’s nobody in red hassling him, and eventually Mendy clears. Meanwhile here’s pre-match optimist Matt Dony, with an email headed Oh Well: “Ah, in all honesty, I had no expectations for tonight. I can accept Liverpool going out, as long as they play like this for the rest of the season. They may not have taken chances, but they’ve pressed and harried and created chances in a way that’s been conspicuously lacking this year. Take confidence from the performance, if not the (expected) result.”
84 min: Real let Liverpool pass it around, only showing interest in getting involved when the ball nears their final third. At which point: no way through.
82 min: Real replace Asensio with Isco, while Liverpool make their final gambit, replacing Mane and Firmino - both of whom having disappointed - with Oxlade-Chamberlain and Shaqiri.
81 min: Liverpool half clear the corner. Militao whips a cross in from the right. It beats Phillips and lands on the head of Benzema, six yards out. He must score ... but heads down, the ball bouncing harmlessly over the bar. I suspect the flag would have gone up for offside, but it doesn’t matter now.
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80 min: Liverpool win a corner down the left. It’s swung into the mixer. Phillips wins a header, but it’s weak and wide. Real go up the other end, Ascensio bringing down a high ball with a soft touch and releasing Rodrygo down the left. Rodrygo wins a corner.
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79 min: Rodrygo nearly gets the better of Alexander-Arnold down the left, but the much-maligned full back defends the situation brilliantly, sticking to the striker’s shoulder and eventually easing him off the ball. Had he not won that battle, Rodrygo was clean through.
78 min: Real are in total control now. Liverpool appear to have burned themselves out. Can the hosts gather themselves for one last push?
keep tabs on Real Madrid’s Rodrygo. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
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76 min: A corner for Real. They don’t throw too many people up for it, and nothing occurs, but no matter, as the sands of time continue to run down.
74 min: Benzema strips Fabinho of the ball in the centre circle and makes for the Liverpool box. The hosts just about hold their defensive shape, but once again, there’s a reminder that Real, already two goals to the good with time on their side, could put this to bed in short order with one rapier thrust.
72 min: It’s Real’s turn to make a double change. Odriozola and Rodrygo come on for Kroos and Vinicius Junior.
71 min: Jota has a flash from a tight angle on the left. A deflection leads to a corner, which leads to a pause in the game as Nacho takes a whack upside the head. Real are more than happy to let the clock tick on.
69 min: Militao blocks again, this time from Firmino’s spin and shot from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Liverpool have had their chances. Plenty of them. But the old clinical Liverpool is no more.
68 min: A half-chance for Jota near the left-hand post. He can’t decide whether to head goalwards or backwards, and achieves neither. Then a full-fat opportunity for Salah, who finds the ball at his feet on the penalty spot after some in-box pinball. But he pauses, allowing Militao to get in the way, and can’t get a proper shot off. Real somehow block and clear.
66 min: Vinicius is spring clear down the middle by Valverde’s long ball! He’s one on one with Alisson, but the keeper makes himself big and smothers, then stops Benzema as well, before springing up and hacking clear. Liverpool are still in it ... just. Two goals are proving elusive enough; three would surely be too much.
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65 min: Mane strips Mendy of possession down the Liverpool right and digs out a cross that forces a corner. But the resulting set piece is a complete non-event. On the touchline, Jurgen Klopp is beginning to show signs of high irritation. His opposite number Zinedine Zidane is his usual inscrutable self.
64 min: Plenty of space for Vinicius down the left. He’s got Benzema and Asensio in the middle, but can only clank his pass straight into Fabinho. Liverpool breathe again after looking very light at the back for a few seconds there.
62 min: The pace of this game has seriously dropped. Real will be delighted.
60 min: Having failed to reduce the arrears, Liverpool decide that they may as well go for it. On come Thiago and Jota, their heads full of arrows and diagrams; off go Kabak and Milner. Fabinho will drop back into defence, and Liverpool will throw four up front.
59 min: Phillips is booked for blocking Casemiro. That might be more for repeated fouling, actually, the final straw after a series of impudent clips and shoves.
58 min: Liverpool are planning a double substitution, though they’re taking their sweet time over making it, Jota and Thiago taking in page after page of tactical bumf.
56 min: Firmino has a whack from distance. The ball nestles in the roof of the Kop.
55 min: Mane’s sweet backheel nearly releases Robertson into the box down the left. One of the Casemiros - there is more than one of him, right? - comes across to block Robertson’s run and win the goal kick.
54 min: Mendy and Benzema combine beautifully down the inside-left channel. Mendy reaches the byline, but under pressure from Fabinho, he can only pull back into a thicket of red shirts, and Alexander-Arnold clears.
52 min: Valverde steams down the right and hooks inside for Benzema, who tries to trap and shoot, but is only able to cushion the ball softly into the arms of Allison. Real are responding well to Liverpool’s early second-half thrust.
51 min: Modric nearly springs Benzema clear down the right, but Kabak gets across as fast as he can and intercepts, just in time.
49 min: Asensio and Valverde combine well down the right. A low cross is blasted clear by Phillips in the no-nonsense style.
48 min: Alexander-Arnold comes again, nearly finding Firmino at the near post again. Not quite. Liverpool have come flying out of the blocks again.
47 min: Nothing comes of the set piece, but what a pass that was from Alexander-Arnold, caressed with the outside of his boot, threaded through a thicket to find his man.
46 min: Alexander-Arnold scoops a stunning cross in from the right. Firmino brings it down and hammers a shot towards the near post. Courtois parries brilliantly. Corner.
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Real get the second half underway. No changes. Liverpool are kicking towards the Kop in the second half, which is just how they like it.
Half-time entertainment. Relive last night’s Champions League action in aural form ...
... and in good, old-fashioned, sarcastic words.
HALF TIME: Liverpool 0-0 Real Madrid (agg: 1-3)
Liverpool have had plenty of chances, but haven’t seriously bothered Courtois in the Real Madrid goal. The 13-time champions will be happy to have kept their hosts contained.
45 min +1: Mane looks to chest down on the penalty spot, with a view to spinning and shooting. But he slips at exactly the wrong time. Had he remained on his feet, he’d surely have scored, but his studs went.
45 min: There will be two added minutes. Can Liverpool score a goal that would change the half-time mood entirely?
44 min: Liverpool have had their chances. But it’s been their story of 2021: plenty of good build-up play, but an obvious lack of confidence in front of goal. Sport’s a funny thing.
42 min: Liverpool miss their second gilt-edged opportunity of the match. Alexander-Arnold fights his way down the inside-right channel, then suddenly cuts an unexpected pass back for Wijnaldum, who is in a pocket of space, ten yards out. Wijnaldum, who has more time than he realises, blazes over the bar. He holds his head in both hands, as well he might.
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41 min: Another chance for Salah, albeit a much harder one than his early opportunity. Wijnaldum and Mane work well down the left. The ball comes across and evades Mendy. Salah, the ball a little bit behind him, swivels and tries to scoop it home but can only hoick it over the bar.
40 min: Mane finds a little space down the left but his cross is cut out by Casemiro, who has misplaced a couple of passes, and nearly got himself sent off, but has otherwise been excellent.
38 min: Some shapeless bustle down the Liverpool right. Suddenly Alexander-Arnold decides to restore order, and whips a glorious cross towards the far post. It’s dipping towards Mane, but he’s reluctant to clatter into Courtois, which is what would have happened had he thrown himself at the ball. The cross flies out for a goal kick. A yard further out, and Mane was slotting that home.
36 min: Kabak does well to hold up Benzema, who was threatening go breeze off down the left. But Vinicius Junior nicks the ball back immediately and chips over Kabak, who is out of the game. Fortunately for Liverpool, Vinicius takes a heavy touch as he enters the box and runs out for a goal kick.
35 min: Liverpool ping it around nicely, 30 yards out, but can’t find a way into the final third. Eventually Milner gets fed up and crosses long from the left. Easy pickings for Courtois.
33 min: Real slow the pace down, taking their sweet time to restart the game after a garden-variety foul. They’ll be pleased with the way this is going, having drawn most of Liverpool’s early sting.
31 min: Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Wijnaldum combine crisply down the right touchline. Their quickfire triangulation nearly opens up the Real defence, but Mendy holds firm in the face of Salah’s final twisting, and the danger is over.
29 min: Mane spins gracefully down the left and romps into the Real half. He slips the ball inside for Firmino, who has Alexander-Arnold in acres down the other flank. Firmino delays and delays, then when he finally produces a pass, clumps it straight to Nacho. What a waste.
27 min: As a result of that brief brouhaha, there’s a bit of an edge to this game now. They wanted an Anfield atmosphere; they’ve got one.
25 min: Casemiro is back up and running quickly enough, because here he is clattering hard, fast and late into Milner down the touchline. It all briefly threatens to kick off, with Klopp and Robertson in the thick of it. Klopp is trying to calm things down, Robertson not so much as he comes across to debate issues with Casemiro. Eventually both Casemiro and Robertson are booked.
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24 min: Casemiro is down, rolling around after being caught by Fabinho. There didn’t appear to be too much in it, but the Real midfielder holds himself gingerly as he gets up.
22 min: Real are beginning to impose themselves now, establishing a little control after those early Liverpool flourishes. “Will Liverpool regret the blown early chance?” wonders Mary Waltz. “Absolutely. During the Championship year Salah put those opportunities in the net. Liverpool has lost their confidence this year.”
20 min: Benzema busies himself down the inside-left channel, taking advantage of a Phillips miscontrol. He twists and turns, then shoots. The ball deflects of Kabak’s shin and beats Alisson, but crashes off the bottom of the left-hand post and away. Vinicius Junior returns it with a weak shot that Alisson smothers. A huge break for Liverpool ... though it’d have been a huge slice of luck for Real had that gone in.
19 min: Mane threatens to spin his way past Militao down the inside-left channel, but the defender battles hard and eventually gets his body in between opponent and ball to win the free kick.
18 min: Robertson whips it in. Kabak tries to steer a header goalwards but he’s got Nacho on his back and can’t get his effort on target.
17 min: Casemiro gives the ball away in the centre circle, allowing Salah to zip forward with Mane in close attendance. They combine down the right, and then Vinicius Junior bowls Mane to the floor. Free kick in a dangerous position.
15 min: Vinicius Junior nearly gets a yard on Alexander-Arnold down the Real left, but the Liverpool wing back keeps on his shoulder and eventually forces the first-leg hero to turn tail.
13 min: Alexander-Arnold sashays into acres down the right. He floats a cross inside for Mane, who can’t win a header at Courtois’s expense. Courtois flaps clear, and in any case Mane was well offside.
11 min: Alexander-Arnold sends Salah skittering down the right touchline. He glides infield and sets up Milner, who opens his body and aims for the top right from 25 yards. It’s heading in, but Courtois extends fully to tip around the post. Nothing comes of the corner, but Liverpool could easily be two up already. Will they live to regret this, the super-early Salah chance especially?
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9 min: Kabak ships possession cheaply, but makes up for it by deflecting Modric’s shot out for a corner. From the set piece, Modric swings to the far post, where Benzema is found offside. A lovely ball by Modric, though, who sent Mane off to the shops with a drop of the shoulder before delivering it.
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8 min: Another corner, this time down the left, won by Mane. Robertson takes. The ball drops to Salah, who is preparing to shoot from the edge of the box when the whistle goes for a foul. Phillips has skittled Benzema and Militao with one determined burst, and it’s relief for Real, albeith painfully so for the winded Militao.
6 min: Alexander-Arnold wins a corner down right. He takes one of his famous quick corners, but Milner is no Divock Origi. He can’t connect properly with the low fizzer and Mendy is able to clear the danger.
5 min: On the touchline, Jurgen Klopp screams at several members of his team. He’ll be wanting them to maintain this whirlwind start, and no mistake.
3 min: Mane drives down the left before sending one hell of a ball across the face of goal. Firmino misses the ball six yards out. Salah tries to turn home at the far post, but can only win a corner. Nothing comes from the set piece, but this is a promising start by Liverpool.
2 min: Liverpool should be celebrating the perfect start. A ball launched down the middle is cushioned by Mane into the path of Salah, just inside the box. Salah looks to tuck home, but instead of finding a corner, hits straight at Courtois, who makes himself big and parries. What a chance!
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1 min: Milner goes in hard on Benzema. It’s a hearty 50-50, but the Real striker has turned his ankle and goes down. Milner caught him on the follow through, albeit accidentally. Benzema’s up again quickly enough.
After a minute to remember those who lost their lives at Hillsborough, Liverpool get the ball rolling. Real Madrid are kicking towards the Kop in this first half.
The teams are out! You’ll Never Walk Alone blares out of the PA speakers in supremely ironic fashion; this stadium would normally be bouncing right now. That penultimate chord still manages to get the old neck hairs standing to attention, all the same. Liverpool are in their famous red, Real in their storied merengue white. We’ll be off once the pre-match pleasantries are done and dusted. “Olympiakos. Milan. Dortmund. Barcelona,” chants M of Pop Musik fame Matt Dony. “I’m going for positivity. It could happen!”
Jurgen Klopp is asked by BT Sport’s Des Kelly whether attempting a comeback without a crowd is “the toughest of challenges”. “I don’t know, never tried it!” he laughs. “Let’s give it a try. Of all the problems you have when you are 3-1 down, having no crowd is just another one. But it’s one we have to overcome. We have to create a special atmosphere on the pitch. I don’t know how big the staff is, plus 15 to 20 people outside! That’s what we try, and we’ll see where it leads us. It is clear what we have to do. We have to score goals but we must not concede. We have a lot of great options to bring on if we have to increase the risk.”
He’s also asked whether a special plan has been cooked up for Toni Kroos, who ran the show in Madrid. “Yes. But Toni is allowed to move and do what he wants and the more he drops the more difficult it makes it. Each team in the world has their problem with Toni, and if he is marked then Luka Modric drops. And if he is marked then Casemiro does the same. It is not that easy. We have to cause them more trouble. This is Anfield, even without fans, and we have to make sure that everybody can see that tonight.”
It would seem that some clown has put through one of the windows of Real Madrid’s team bus. Liverpool have responded to this dispiriting buffoonery with a statement: “We condemn unequivocally the actions that led to Real Madrid’s team bus being damaged during its arrival to Anfield this evening. It is totally unacceptable and shameful behaviour of a few individuals. We sincerely apologise to our visitors for any distress caused. We will work together with Merseyside Police to establish the facts and identify those responsible.”
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In tonight’s match programme, Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has responded to the online abuse suffered by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita in the wake of last week’s first leg. “I’m sick of seeing people I know, and people I don’t know, having to put up with the kind of abuse that turns my stomach. It has to stop and anyone who has a shred of decency has to play their part in making it stop ... At one stage I was considering switching off all of my social-media accounts in protest. I still have that option and I applaud those, like Thierry Henry, who have taken the ultimate step as far as this issue is concerned. But for now I want to see if I can turn my own feelings into something positive by shining a light on an appalling situation and seeing if some sort of positive can be extracted from it.” In an attempt to raise awareness of the problem, Henderson has given the reins of his social-media accounts to an online-bullying charity, the Cybersmile Foundation.
Jordan has dedicated his programme notes ahead of tonight’s @ChampionsLeague game against Real Madrid to call on everyone to pull together to stop online abuse.
— Jordan Henderson (@JHenderson) April 14, 2021
If you see it, report it. It’s everyone’s responsibility.
Reporting tools - https://t.co/vo5wumgvtb @CybersmileHQ
Tomorrow marks the 32nd anniversary of Hillsborough. There will be a minute of silence before tonight’s match to remember the 96 souls who went to the game and never made it back home.
Liverpool make two changes to the starting XI named in Madrid. James Milner replaces Naby Keita in the midfield, while Roberto Firmino takes Diogo Jota’s place in the front three. A slight surprise that Milner has been given the nod ahead of Thiago, but there you have it.
Real Madrid make just one change from last week. Lucas Vazquez is injured, so in comes Federico Valverde.
The teams
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Kabak, Robertson, Milner, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Subs: Thiago, Keita, Adrian, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jota, Tsimikas, Shaqiri, Ben Davies, Rhys Williams, Harvey Davies, Cain, Clarkson.
Real Madrid: Courtois, Valverde, Eder Militao, Nacho, Mendy, Modric, Casemiro, Kroos, Asensio, Benzema, Vinicius Junior.
Subs: Marcelo, Lunin, Odriozola, Isco, Mariano, Rodrygo, Altube, Park, Arribas, Chust.
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (Holland).
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Preamble
This is one of the stranger rivalries in European football, chronologically speaking. The clubs first met the 1981 final, Alan Kennedy scoring from an absurd angle as Liverpool lifted their third European Cup. They didn’t meet again for the best part of three decades, at which point Rafa Benitez’s side won home and away in the Champions League last 16, Andrea Dossena putting the icing on the cake of a 5-0 aggregate thrashing. At this point, Real were very much Barcelona to Liverpool’s Dundee United.
It couldn’t last, though, and since then the clubs have met on four occasions, Real winning the lot. Brendan Rodgers effectively threw in the towel in the 2014-15 groups by leaving Steven Gerrard out at the Bernabeu; in the 2018 final Loris Karius literally threw ... but there’s nothing to be gained by reliving that again. Then last week at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, Liverpool dominated possession and made exactly 100 more passes than their hosts, but were nevertheless comprehensively dismantled 3-1 thanks to a combination of shoddy defending and Vinicius Junior’s clinical brilliance.
So tonight Liverpool need to arrest a worrying historical trend. More literally, they need to win 2-0 if they’re to face Chelsea in the semis. A 3-1 win would force this tie into extra time. Should Real score two goals or more, Liverpool will have to win by a margin of at least three. The takeaway from all of that is basically not to concede, and that’s a big ask for a patched-together defence against the Madrid midfield and attack. But in all likelihood it’s what needs to happen.
Real are strong favourites to make it through, then. But of course Liverpool have emerged victorious from worse positions before, as Real’s old pals Barcelona can attest. This could be another night of Anfield magic, or it could be effectively over after ten minutes. Either way, it’s on!
Kick off: 8pm BST.
