Liverpool 2 Real Madrid 5
What had struck Jürgen Klopp the most on Sunday when he finally watched a re-run of last season’s Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid was the streetwise conviction that the Spanish team showed; how they did not panic during the low moments, how they knew they would find a way.
Madrid dug a hole for themselves here, shipping two early goals – the second after a terrible goalkeeping blunder by Thibaut Courtois. And yet they barely blinked. Instead, it was Liverpool who fell apart at the first sign of turbulence, which was a first goal of the evening from their nemesis, Vinícius Júnior.
Klopp’s team had entered with their tails up following the Premier League wins over Everton and Newcastle. As they wrestle with a transitional period, the hope was that they could locate an ignition point. Instead, the extent of the crash was sobering. The home crowd watched through their fingers as Klopp’s players took leave of their defensive senses, ignoring the basics, their confidence quickly reduced to tatters.
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Alisson was badly at fault for Vinicius’s equaliser on 36 minutes and the second-half became a procession for Madrid, their superiority – and Liverpool’s travails – emphasised when Luka Modric sprinted through a non-existent midfield to find Vinícius, who squared for Karim Benzema. The striker checked, putting Alisson on the floor before almost toying with the red shirts around him. Then he fired home. That made it 5-2 and it was Benzema’s second. Militão had made it 3-2 and it was a gruesome job to rake over the Liverpool concessions. This tie feels over. The same could be said of Liverpool’s season.
Real are the reigning Spanish and European champions; the Club World Cup champions, too, having beaten Al-Hilal in Morocco 10 days previously. Klopp probably has a few extra ways to describe them and the history that his Liverpool team have with them was an unavoidable subplot – not least the pair of losses in the final of this competition plus a quarter-final exit in between.
It was about focus for Liverpool, about harnessing the power of Anfield, about playing only what was in front of them, which was a bold Madrid line-up, Ancelotti including Rodrygo from the start which meant Federico Valverde in midfield.
Klopp’s team found a way at the outset, the opening goal marked by a clutch of eye-catching contributions, Stefan Bajcetic providing the first – a neat piece of control on a breaking ball followed by a volleyed pass to Jordan Henderson. When the captain fed Mohamed Salah up the right, Núñez – drifting in from the left – sensed opportunity. When Salah shaped a low cross, Núñez was ready.
The Uruguayan had been a fitness doubt after a knock to his shoulder at Newcastle on Saturday. But his athleticism was there for everybody to see, a controlled leap followed by a flick with his trailing leg that packed quite the punch.
Courtois was a helpless bystander. Soon afterwards, he was hapless and beside himself. The goalkeeper knew what he wanted to do when he addressed a Dani Carvajal back-pass with Salah in attendance. His brain told him to play it out with his left foot. But somewhere there was a crossed wire. Courtois’s right knee intervened and the ball just squirted away from him, straight to Salah, for whom the finish was easy.
Salah was rampant in the early going. At 1-0, moments after Virgil van Dijk had made an important block to deny Rodrygo, Salah ran at David Alaba and seemed to run through him. Ignoring Núñez in the middle, he dragged wide of the near post. Alaba would be forced off. Salah had twisted him in every direction.
It did not look good for Madrid at that stage. But then the picture brightened. When you have Vinícius Júnior in your ranks, this kind of thing tends to happen. When he picked up possession in heavy traffic, on the left-hand side of the area, there did not appear to be much on. But when Fabinho stepped in the wrong direction and Joe Gomez did not get tight enough, Vinícius bent a vicious curler inside the far corner.
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It was a strange first half, lacking structure because of the defensive looseness on both sides. It looked so easy to pick passes, to play through the lines or in behind the full-backs. Real just about kept out Salah then Núñez in a scramble before, at the other end, Alisson pushed away another Vinícius curler. It was a fine save. The goalkeeper’s descent to zero was shuddering.
Alisson had the time to pick his pass after Gomez went back to him, even though Vinícius was on the scene. Perhaps he had too much time. Alisson tried to go right with a sidefoot, rather than put his boot through it, and the ball simply hit Vinícius and flew in. Real nearly finished the half in front but Andy Robertson got back to nick clear off Rodrygo at the far post after yet another Vinícius incision.
Last season’s final was in everybody’s thoughts, particularly how the football came to be overtaken by organisational chaos, brutality and thuggery. Uefa were to blame and the Champions League aria – synonymous with them – was always going to be booed by the Kop. “Fuck Uefa,” they sang before kick-off. There were also various banners against the governing body.
Back to the action and back to the slapstick defending, Madrid’s goal for 3-2 early in the second half was all about the lack of marking on a Luka Modric free-kick. Éder Militão made a simple run, felt nobody go with him and headed home.
It went from bad to worse for Liverpool and Gomez, who endured a night when nothing went right for him. Karim Benzema played a give-and-go on the fringes of the area and did not really get hold of his shot. Alisson looked to have it covered only for it to deflect off Gomez and wrong-foot him. – Guardian
