Jürgen Klopp was prophetic in the previous one. “In difficulty, they know they will always have their chance. They don’t panic, ”he warned. No sooner said than done. Madrid had every reason for another total loss, but, faithful to a unique case of survival instinct, he dodged it again. “Thank God, we don’t play against Madrid every week”, he tried to console himself after conceding another blow to the whites’ jaw, with the usual cruelty and paranormal effects that Carlo Ancelotti’s team is used to in Europe. “They always punish you, they don’t forgive you. It is very difficult to defend them, much more than in a league match in England”, the German coach admitted on Tuesday, who gave up the tie for loss. “You have to take risks and they are dangerous on the counter,” he warned.
2
Alisson, Virgil Van Dijk, A. Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez (Matip, min. 73), Stefan Bajcetic, Fabinho, Henderson (Milner, min. 73), Salah, Gakpo (Roberto Firmino, min. 63) and Darwin Núñez (Diogo Jota, min. 63)
5
Courtois, Eder Militao, Alaba (Nacho, min. 27), Dani Carvajal, Rüdiger, Federico Valverde, Modric (Kroos, min. 86), Camavinga, Benzema (Marco Asensio, min. 86), Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo (Dani Ceballos , min 80)
goals 1-0 min. 3: Darwin Nunez. 2-0 min. 14: Salah. 2-1 min. 20: Vinicius Junior. 2-2 min. 35: Vinicius Junior. 2-3 min. 47: Eder Militao. 2-4 min. 55: Benzema. 2-5 min. 66: Benzema.
Referee István Kovács
Yellow cards Vinicius Junior (min. 60) and Harvey Elliot (min. 92)
Until the set grid It opened up in a channel at the beginning of the second half with Militão’s 2-3 draw, torture was for Madrid, especially due to a broken left flank. That’s where Salah, Trent Alexander Arnold, hit, and Alaba couldn’t cope. From that flank was born the 1-0 of Darwin Núñez, who things in life after all the criticism received for his evident lack of coupling, scored in his fourth straight Champions League game (Rangers, Ajax, Naples and this one).
The sinkhole began to be fixed from the bench. After half an hour the Austrian defender was injured, Nacho came out and from there the wound closed up. “Alaba is very good, but how many years has Nacho been at Madrid?” Klopp wondered, not without some astonishment. Ancelotti, however, somewhat qualified the effect of the youth player, of whom he said that he has “a defensive intelligence like few others”, when he explained that in the first half he had sent Modric to put pressure on Fabinho and that helped to widen that gap on the left. left handed band After the break, he added, entrusting Valverde to pay attention to that area and together they covered the escape route.
“We improve. Against City we conceded two in 10 minutes”
The Reggiolo coach commented that he had imagined another match other than the last final. “I wanted it more open because it is a tie, scoring at Anfield was important and I have opted for a dangerous forward,” he said. And that’s how, taking advantage of the fact that he didn’t have Toni Kroos for the whole game (he was low, but he showed up by surprise at the concentration at two in the afternoon and still played the last minutes), he dispensed with the fourth half and gave flight to Rodrigo up. Although the Brazilian was used to the full in defense, Carletto returned to the three pure attackers and his eleven was a message that the script he was looking for was different from the Parisian night. The consequence was that, beyond Madrid’s infinite resistance, be it at Saint-Dennis or at Anfield, the shooting power in attack was much greater. “The striker was very effective. When we were able to get out of the pressure, we created problems for them, ”he commented.
Before he had to walk for a long time through the gorge. Actually its natural habitat every time it goes out to Europe. 2-0 in minute 15. What did you think? “I remembered the City [partido de ida]. Here we have improved, because we fit in 15 minutes and that day it was 10. I expected the same thing to happen, and it has been even better [entonces perdió 4-3]. I’m not saying that it was foreseeable to concede two goals, but I did suffer. There we have said that you had to suffer, that anything could happen, and the important thing was to have a cool head and controlled emotions. We have done well. In this sense, veterans help a lot. Karim, Modric and Kroos from the bench. Calm, calm, the game is long”, the Italian developed. As long as the night in Liverpool, in which two hours after the end of the match several hundred local fans were still drowning the white penalties in the stadium bar in the middle of an already blurred environment.
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