Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema both scored braces to help Real Madrid produce one of the high-scoring football scores of the weekend in the Champions League. Vinicius Junior scored twice before halftime to cut away Liverpool’s early lead, and three unanswered goals in the second half, two of which were scored by Karim Benzema, condemned Jurgen Klopp’s team to their biggest home defeat in Champions League history. Throughout a scorching first half, the Reds threatened to overwhelm the global champions, who defeated them in the Champions League final in May. Darwin Nunez’s flick put them ahead after four minutes, but Mohamed Salah capitalized on a mistake by Thibaut Courtois.
With Real Madrid rocking, they instead displayed their trademark skill and calm, with Vinicius sending the ball low into the far corner of Alisson’s net to bring one back, before the goalkeeper emulated Courtois’ error by gifting the Brazilian his second of the night. Carlo Ancelotti’s team took the lead early in the second half thanks to Eder Militao’s header from Luka Modric’s free-kick, but Benzema’s strike deflected off Joe Gomez and past Alisson to hush Anfield. Liverpool was broken when Benzema delivered a superb second goal. As a result, Klopp and his team will require a miracle at the Bernabeu next month. The more immediate problem is that, following a couple of confidence-boosting Premier League triumphs, Liverpool’s season-long weakness has been exposed.
“It was pretty clear. We gave up all five goals. That suggests we could have done better. Given our situation, it’s critical that we see progress, and the first half was, aside from the two goals we conceded, one of the best we’ve played all season,” Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp said. “The second goal was slapstick and tied the game. The first priority is to improve our defense; there are plenty of guys available. Vinicius also has a world-class moment, but we can clearly defend better.”
“What occurred was that we suffered early on because they made things difficult for us at the start of the game “Ancelotti elaborated. “You cannot begin a game in this manner. Fortunately, what transpired was not unusual for our crew. We kept our cool, kept our heads up, and gradually demonstrated our worth,” Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
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