Real Madrid acquired used to pulling off dramatic comebacks within the Champions League final season. Now it must keep away from one to maintain its title protection going.
It shall be Liverpool needing to do one thing magical on the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Wednesday to reverse a 5-2 loss from the primary leg within the spherical of 16.
It undoubtedly received’t be simple — no away workforce has ever erased a three-goal loss from the primary leg within the Champions League. Only 5 instances the workforce that misplaced at dwelling rallied within the second leg, with Manchester United the one one to beat a two-goal deficit in a round-of-16 matchup in opposition to Paris Saint-Germain in 2019.
Liverpool did handle an enormous comeback at dwelling within the 2019 semifinals, rallying in opposition to one other Spanish membership, Barcelona.
It had misplaced 3-0 on the Camp Nou earlier than pulling off a 4-0 win within the second leg at dwelling to maintain alive a run that finally ended with the workforce successful the trophy. Only three different groups overcame a deficit of three or extra objectives — Barcelona, Roma and Deportivo La Coruña.
“We need to go and do something special,” Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold mentioned. “It’s about throwing the kitchen sink at it and going all out.”
Madrid, which beat Liverpool in final season’s ultimate for a record-extending 14th European title, pulled off thrilling comebacks on its method to that ultimate, rallying from behind in opposition to PSG within the spherical of 16, Chelsea within the quarterfinals and Manchester City within the semifinals.
Madrid additionally rallied in opposition to Liverpool within the first leg this season after taking place 2-0 within the first half in England, finally constructing its snug three-goal benefit with two objectives every by Vinícius Júnior and Karim Benzema. Éder Militão additionally scored for Madrid at Anfield.
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti anticipated an open second leg and mentioned his workforce is not going to play too defensively.
“The message to the team is simple,” Ancelotti mentioned Tuesday. “We have to try to play as well as possible, just like in the first leg. We won’t try to speculate, we have to be in the game from the first minute. We have to go into the game with maximum intensity and enthusiasm and try to win it.”
The solely time Madrid didn’t advance within the Champions League after successful the primary leg on the highway was in 2019 when it was eradicated by Ajax within the spherical of 16.
Madrid has received six of its final seven matches in opposition to Liverpool within the Champions League, drawing the opposite one.
The workforce ended a three-match winless run with a 3-1 victory over Espanyol on the Bernabéu within the Spanish league on Saturday. The coach is predicted to have Ferland Mendy and Benzema out there after recovering from accidents.
Liverpool took one other hit to its confidence with a 1-0 loss at relegation-threatened Bournemouth over the weekend, hurting its probabilities of transferring nearer to the highest 4 within the Premier League. Mohamed Salah missed a penalty in that recreation.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com