Champions League: Real Madrid Beat Liverpool 3-1 As Reds Made To Pay For Crucial Errors

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. scored twice as they punished a sloppy Liverpool side to win 3-1 at home in Tuesday’s Champions League .quarter-final first leg

The Reds were largely second best throughout an entertaining game in Spain against a Real team missing their first-choice centre-back pairing, but packed with impressive attacking talent.

Much of the damage was done in the first half, begun when Vinicius Junior took down a brilliant long-range pass from Toni Kroos on his chest before firing the opener past Alisson.

It leaves them with a mountain to climb in the return leg at an empty Anfield on 14 April.

The 20-year-old Brazilian, Vinicius Jr. fired the 13-times European champions into the lead in the 27th minute at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium after controlling a long diagonal pass from Toni Kroos from his own half which flummoxed the Liverpool defence.

Marco Asensio put the hosts further at ease by scoring in the 35th after a Kroos pass again caused havoc among the visiting backline but Liverpool looked more settled after the interval and a scrappy Mohamed Salah strike pulled them back into contention early in the second half.

But they failed to build on their momentum and Vinicius struck again in the 63rd minute to repeat the scoreline of the 2018 Champions League final and put Zinedine Zidane’s side in pole position for next week’s second leg at Anfield.

Post game: Vinicius: “My team mates help my confidence levels