Liverpool have a mountain to climb if they’re to reach another Champions League semi-final after losing 3-1 to Real Madrid in Spain.
Goals from Vinicius Junior either side of a Marco Asensio strike were enough to give the home side a two-goal advantage going into the second leg, after Mo Salaah had pulled one back for Liverpool.
After a lacklustre opening quarter of an hour, the game burst into life with Toni Kroos playing a beautiful defence-splitting ball through the middle, which Vinicius controlled beautifully on his chest before slotting the ball past Allison to put the hosts into the lead.
The goal did little to wake Liverpool up, and it wasn’t long before Real doubled their lead. After a speculative ball over the top, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold horribly misjudged his header, putting the ball squarely into the path of Asensio who rounded the keeper to double the home side’s lead.
As the half-time whistle blew, after one of the most anonymous 45-minutes of European football in living memory Liverpool had barely threatened Thibaut Courtois’s goal. However, the second half began much brightly for the 6-time winners, and it wasn’t long until they were back in the tie with Salah firing into the roof of the net following a scuffed shot from Andy Robertson.
With the deficit halved, the next goal would be crucial, and sadly for Liverpool they were the ones conceding it. Following another defensive blooper on the right-hand side, the Reds allowed Vinicius far too much time in the box, and the unmarked Brazilian fired a shot low into the corner to re-establish a two-goal lead for Los Blancos.
After a few more half chances for both sides, that was how the game finished, with Liverpool knowing they have it all to do next week if they’re going to stay in the competition.