A replay of last year’s Champions League final, although both teams have declined since. Real Madrid are eight points behind rivals Barcelona in La Liga, whereas Liverpool have dropped into mid-table in the Premier League.
Jürgen Klopp stuck with the same eleven that beat Newcastle three days prior. Liverpool set up in their usual 4-3-3 formation.
Carlo Ancelotti made two changes to the team that beat Osasuna, with Dani Carvajal and Karim Benzema replacing Nacho and Dani Ceballos. Real Madrid lined up in a 4-3-3 shape.
Liverpool started the game at a high pace, pressing Madrid high and managing to force them into giving the ball away.
It took the Reds just three minutes to take the lead. Vinicius Junior and Luka Modric were drawn forward to press, yet Liverpool managed to squeeze the ball through to Cody Gakpo between the lines and although David Alaba intercepted his through ball, Liverpool recovered it in midfield. Stefan Bajcetic spread the ball out to Jordan Henderson out wide, in space thanks to Vinicius and Modric’s failure to track back. He knocked the ball on for Mohamed Salah, doubling up on Alaba, then drawing away the Austrian with an overlapping run, opening up space for Salah to cut inside and slide a pass into Darwin Nuñez to flick past Thibaut Courtois.
It wasn’t the last time Real Madrid would allow Liverpool this space and time on the right, with attackers failing to track back and midfielders failing to shift across. After the game Ancelotti seemed to blame this on him telling Modric to press Fabinho, pulling him away from his nominal position – which Madrid then fixed by having Federico Valverde press him instead – but, even when he was already in a deeper position, Modric and his teammates would rarely shut down this space.
Liverpool then doubled their lead from a Madrid error. Carvajal passed back to Courtois after recovering the ball, but, under pressure from Salah, the goalkeeper panicked and ended up knocking the ball with his knee straight to the Egyptian to finish.
Liverpool had already began to ease off the pressure even before this second goal went in. Darwin Nuñez in particular began to track back on the left, with Salah sometimes doing the same on the right but mostly remaining in attack with Gakpo, forming a 4-4-2 shape defensively.
Under less pressure, Madrid now found it easier to play out, and soon pulled a goal back. They spread the ball out to the left, where they had a trio of players. Vinicius and Benzema exchanged passes to work the ball into the box, with Henderson misreading the play and speeding off to close down Benzema, expecting a pass into the Frenchman as Vinicius turned to face the goal. Liverpool’s defenders failed to stop the Brazilian, however they were still denying him space, yet he managed to rifle a shot inside the far post anyway.
Previously Vinicius had presumably been left up the pitch in a bid to catch out Liverpool on the counter, attacking the space behind Trent Alexander-Arnold when he advanced, however in truth he wasn’t all that influential until Liverpool began to drop back, which is arguably more impressive: Vinicius sneaking his way through even when he was being crowded out.
Madrid then got their second in much the same way Liverpool had got theirs. Liverpool recovered the ball after losing it in midfield and passed back to Alisson Becker, but, under pressure, the goalkeeper’s attempt at passing out rebounded back off Vinicius, lobbing him.
Just a minute into the second half, Madrid took the lead. Joe Gomez gave away a somewhat dubious foul along the side of the box. Modric then lifted the ball into the box for Eder Militão to nod home as he ran completely free along the six yard box. Liverpool’s set up was bizarre: with where the free-kick was taken from, they should have been defending it like it was a corner, in two lines, and, with how close it was, staying much tighter to their men, yet they bunched up together in a line as if they were trying to maintain a high line in their six-yard box, leaving acres of space in the rest of the box for Madrid to exploit.
Less than ten minutes later, they added another. Madrid burst forward on the counter, with Rodrygo and Benzema playing a one-two to play around Fabinho, then Benzema’s shot deflecting off of Gomez to catch Alisson wrong-footed.
Madrid rounded out their win ten minutes later. Modric robbed Fabinho of the ball after a poor touch and Madrid countered – Modric feeding Vinicius, drawing across Virgil van Dijk, then squaring to the free Benzema, who rounded Alisson before finishing.
Compared to some of their horror show performances this season, Liverpool weren’t actually that bad here. They started well, overpowering Madrid with their high pressure, but they simply didn’t have the legs to maintain it, allowing Madrid’s superior quality to shine through. That conceding five at home isn’t comparatively that bad says more about the rest of the season though.
If you enjoy these posts, please consider subscribing to our Patreon or making a one-off donation. For just €2.99, you can get access to premium videos and training sessions.
No responses yet