Karim Benzema scored the only goal of the second leg to help Real Madrid produce one of the narrow football results of the weekend in the Champions League. Liverpool’s defeat at Anfield had left them requiring another miracle European comeback to advance to the final eight, but it did not happen at the Bernabeu, with the reigning champions extending their lead with Benzema’s close-range shot (78). Darwin Nunez came closest for Jurgen Klopp’s side in an intriguing first half when he was twice denied by Thibaut Courtois, but Liverpool was indebted to Alisson for keeping Madrid at bay with a string of saves before their goal.
Madrid, who defeated Liverpool by the same scoreline in last year’s final, will now attempt to win the cup for the 15th time, leaving Klopp’s side with a top-four finish in the Premier League as their only remaining goal in a painfully disappointing season. Klopp threw caution to the wind with his starting lineup, which included an extra striker in Diogo Jota, so it was unsurprising that Real Madrid found room to attack early on. The opening chance belonged to Liverpool, with Courtois save Nunez after Mohamed Salah had beaten Antonio Rudiger, but a string of Madrid chances followed.
The combination that frightened Liverpool in the first leg, Benzema and Vinicius Junior, threatened an early goal when the latter’s cut-back just escaped his teammate, and the visitors needed their goalie to save them soon after. Alisson’s point-blank save from Vinicius was superb, and he saved Liverpool again when he acrobatically deflected Eduardo Camavinga’s long-range effort onto the crossbar. Luka Modric blasted another strong long-range strike narrowly wide, but Liverpool quickly grew into the game, with Nunez and Cody Gakpo both missing headed chances before the former drew a fantastic one-handed save from Courtois with a curling effort.
Vinicius remained a threat up against Trent Alexander-Arnold, but Liverpool came near again when Gakpo’s stinging effort from the right side of the box was deflected around the post by Courtois. But, Madrid’s experience paid off in the second half, as the shrewd hosts neutralised Liverpool’s forward danger and dominated the game, with the evergreen Luka Modric at the centre of proceedings. Just after halftime, Federico Valverde was stopped by Alisson in a one-on-one, and more Madrid chances followed, with Valverde going close again when he headed a Modric cross over, and Benzema unleashing a shot into the bleachers from a Vinicius centre.
Liverpool appeared to be heading for a draw after Benzema’s unusual miss, but the Frenchman made no mistake when Vinicius failed to connect with his effort following a ball over the top, instead sticking out a leg to set up his teammate. In stoppage time, there was a lengthy VAR check for a Madrid penalty, prolonging the visitors’ miserable evening, but the referee decided not to penalise replacement Kostas Tsimikas for handball after examining the pitchside monitor. After full-time, You’ll Never Walk Alone was played over the stadium speakers at the Bernabeu as an expression of sympathy for those who had travelled from Merseyside. It was a fitting finale to Liverpool’s European journey.
“Being 5-2 down is obviously not a good outcome, and if you want to go through, you need to put on a really remarkable effort, which we couldn’t do tonight,” Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said. “The game was open, but Madrid had the better chances. Alli (Alisson) had to make two incredible saves. In the end, the goal is a scrappy one, but that is certainly no longer decisive. We must admit that the proper team was involved. Madrid controlled the game because we gave them the opportunity to do so. There are approximately 500,000 possible ways to exit a knock-out stage, and this was ours tonight. We didn’t ask for it, but it’s what we got. We must now proceed.”
“You require minutes. If we scored in the first half, it could provide an extra spark, but that is purely hypothetical; we will not know. Madrid was the superior team, and they won the game. They were the better team in three half of the games, which is how you advance to the next round,” he added. “If you draw at home and play the game we played tonight, we’ll probably go out as well. We can’t just show up and hope for the best. We had planned a spectacular performance, but we were unable to put it on the field tonight. It was clear that the best side won.”
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