UCL: Familiar foes meet again as Liverpool welcome Real Madrid to Anfield
Familiar foes Liverpool and Real Madrid serve up a repeat of the 2021-22 Champions League final when they renew hostilities at Anfield on Tuesday for the first leg of their last-16 tie.
Jurgen Klopp’s crop placed second in Group A behind Italian powerhouses Napoli to set up a reunion with the holders, who beat Celtic, Shakhtar Donetsk and RB Leipzig to first place in Group F.
While Vinicius Junior’s winner and Thibaut Courtois’s sensational string of saves dominated the on-field talk of last year’s Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid, the contest at the Stade de France will forever be overshadowed by the harrowing scenes of Reds supporters being penned in outside the gates and subjected to tear gas prior to the match.
Baseless allegations emerged from the authorities’ side of late-arriving fans with fake tickets causing the disruption, but an independent report has since cleared Liverpool supporters of any wrongdoing – insisting that the “primary responsibility” lies with UEFA – and Klopp’s loyal fanbase can look forward to Tuesday’s contest with a renewed sense of hope.
Very few teams will proudly boast to get the better of Napoli this season, but only goal difference separated the two sides in the Group A standings as Liverpool collected 15 points from a possible 18, winning five in a row after their humbling 4-1 loss to the Partenopei on matchday one.
Back-to-back Premier League wins over Everton and Newcastle United – the latter coming courtesy of Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo’s efforts – means that a top-four finish is not beyond the realm of possibility for Liverpool, who appear to have turned a corner after a disastrous start to proceedings in 2023.
Klopp’s team have suffered just one Champions League last-16 exit in the last five years – going down to Real’s near neighbours Atletico Madrid in 2019-20 – and Liverpool’s unbeaten run at Anfield now stands at a respectable seven games, but their wretched record versus their esteemed visitors is well-documented.
Leaving Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City in their wake en route to a record-extending 14th European Cup title, Real Madrid are never to be counted out in continental competition, even if their group-stage run was far from the perfect affair.
A draw with Shakhtar Donetsk and defeat to RB Leipzig threatened Los Blancos’ customary qualification as group winners, but a 5-1 thumping of Celtic on the final day saw the champions pip Leipzig to first place by just one point, and they have since added another Club World Cup title to their brimming trophy cabinet.
Carlo Ancelotti’s outfit secured their fourth successive win in all tournaments on Saturday, defeating Osasuna 2-0 in La Liga thanks to second-half strikes from Federico Valverde and Marco Asensio – having managed just a mere three shots on goal in the first half – but their hopes of successive La Liga and Champions League doubles are already hanging by a thread.
The gap to Barcelona at the top of La Liga stands at five points before the Blaugrana play their game in hand against Cadiz on Sunday night, and Real’s patchy European form on the road also makes for pleasant reading for Liverpool fans, as Los Blancos have won just two of their last six Champions League contests away from home.
Defeat to Real Madrid in last season’s final stretched Liverpool’s winless run against the champions to six matches – their longest-ever streak without success against a single opponent in the Champions League – but there is a much more exuberant feel to the Anfield faithful now that Klopp has seemingly stopped the rot.
Liverpool Champions League form:
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Liverpool form (all competitions):
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Real Madrid Champions League form:
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Real Madrid form (all competitions):
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Team News
Liverpool’s success over Newcastle at the weekend came at quite the cost, as Darwin Nunez was forced off just before the hour mark with a painful shoulder problem, and he will undergo further assessment in the coming hours to determine his availability for Tuesday.
The Uruguayan was seen in training on Monday, but should he miss out, Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino will engage in a fierce battle to complete the attack, and the former may win that head-to-head if Klopp opts to deploy Gakpo centrally again.
Luis Diaz, Ibrahima Konate, Thiago Alcantara and Calvin Ramsay make up the rest of Liverpool’s confirmed absentees, while Arthur is still a doubt as he recovers from thigh surgery, so effervescent teenager Stefan Bajcetic can look forward to a deserved start against the European champions.
Similarly, Real may be sweating over the fitness of their star striker Karim Benzema after he was left out of the clash with Osasuna due to muscular fatigue, but Ancelotti is expecting the Ballon d’Or winner to have fully recovered for Tuesday after enjoying a much-needed rest.
In more pressing matters, key midfield duo Aurelien Tchouameni and Toni Kroos have both been suffering from illness, and both players have been left out of the squad here, so Eduardo Camavinga and Dani Ceballos ought to join Luka Modric in the triumvirate.
Left-back Ferland Mendy is facing several more weeks out with a thigh injury, and backup striker Mariano Diaz has also picked up an unspecified problem, which has rendered him unavailable, but Courtois – who made nine saves in last year’s final – has recovered from a hamstring issue and will start on his return to English turf.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Bajcetic, Fabinho, Henderson; Salah, Gakpo, Jota
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Alaba; Ceballos, Camavinga, Modric; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius Jr
Prediction
Liverpool 2-2 Real Madrid
