We are underway at Anfield
Liverpool 0-0 Real Madrid
Some good early pressure by Liverpool but Real remain relaxed at the back.
Liverpool 0-0 Real Madrid
Real midfielder Eduardo Camavinga loses the ball but Cody Gakpo slips in the box as he’s set to shoot.
Mohamed Salah slipped a minute ago too, also in the box. What’s going on there?
4 mins Darwin NunezGOAL – Liverpool 1-0 Real Madrid
Dream start!
WHAT A START FOR LIVERPOOL!
They attack down the right, Salah cuts inside and plays a low cross into the box, where Nunez flicks a stunning finish past Courtois! Incredible.
6 mins: Well then! Anfield was already in full voice, but the atmosphere has gone up another level now.
Real won’t panic, and here comes Vinicius wide on the left. He cuts it back for Modric, looks to dance his way into the box but there are too many red shirts in the way even for him.
7 mins: Fabinho driving into the box, Camavinga slides in and the Brazilian goes down… appeals waved away. Would have been a free-kick, contact was outside the area, but referee doesn’t think it’s a foul anyway.
This has been a brilliant start from Liverpool, so sharp. Real haven’t got going.
9 mins: Alaba with a loose touch, Henderson there to pounce on it.
Great ball slid in behind for Salah, he’s briefly past Alaba but the Real full-back does really well to get back.
Real look to break, Vinicius far too quick for Fabinho and he’s blocked off very cynically. Incredibly fortunate to avoid a yellow card.
11 mins: Salah is away again down the right, Real aren’t pressing at all and they’re being cut apart on that wing.
Poor ball in though, and Real have another chance to break. Benzema forced to turn back, Liverpool get enough bodies back.
First spell of possession for the visitors, and it’s met with a chorus of boos.
Liverpool 1-0 Real Madrid
13 mins: BIG CHANCE!
Second after Rodrygo has an effort blocked, Liverpool go on the attack themselves.
Nunez gets back to defend and clears the ball away, it’s a brilliant touch and turn from Gakpo on the halfway line. Feeds it to Salah, he drives into the box and finds the space, but scuffs an effort wide. Huge opportunity.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Real Madrid | Mohamed Salah 14′
LIVERPOOL ARE FLYING!
Absolute horror show from Courtois. Ball played back to him, he lets it bobble off him and it’s straight to Salah, who has the simplest of finishes.
Liverpool 2-0 Real Madrid
17 mins: Don’t know what’s going on with the pitch, but we can’t seem to go 30 seconds without a player slipping.
Courtois has looked down at the pitch, but it had absolutely nothing to do with his mistake, despite his best efforts to shift the blame.
19 mins: Militao far too casual at the back, Bajcetic swiftly on the scene to rob him.
Alexander-Arnold looks to flick the ball through, Carvajal there to head it back to his goalkeeper. Real look so, so shaky at the back.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Real Madrid | Vinicius Jr 21′
THERE’S THE RESPONSE!
Sensational. Benzema plays the ball to Vinicius, he’s got no right to do anything with so many shirts around him. Shifts the ball onto this right foot though and hammers a finish into the far corner.
Liverpool 2-1 Real Madrid
22 mins: Real looking much better, unsurprisingly, when they’re on the attack. Liverpool defence is there to be got at.
End-to-end so far and we’ve already had three goals. More of the same, please.
24 mins: What is going on!
Real clear the ball and suddenly Vinicius is completely free, one-on-one with Van Dijk. The Liverpool man does well to slow him down, as Valverde and Benzema fly forward.
Ball played into the box towards them, Gomez clears.
25 mins: OFF THE LINE!
Ball cut back to Salah, can’t quite get the shot away as he swivels in the six-yard box. Falls for Nunez, Carvajal throws himself in front of it on the line and, after an almighty scramble, Real hack it away.
Brief VAR check for handball, all good though.
27 mins: This is a blow for Real. Alaba has gone down, looks like his night could be over already. And it will be, as he limps off.
Nacho the man on as a replacement – best of luck to him getting up to speed.
Liverpool 2-1 Real Madrid
29 mins: More slipping, most of these players are going to need a change of studs at half-time.
Courtois has got every single home fan on his back whenever the ball gets played back to him. Unsurprisingly he’s just lumping it forward now.
30 mins: Great work from Nunez, tucks in almost as another left-back and nods the ball behind for a corner with Carvajal lurking behind.
Swung in, falls for Vinicius at the back post and Alisson produces a big save! Almost an identical finish to his goal.
32 mins: Real are on the charge here, Liverpool under plenty of pressure.
Ball is played across for Valverde, just inside the box and running onto it… he blazes the effort high into the Kop. Had loads of time there, needed to do anything but that.
34 mins: Nacho has very much not got himself up to speed.
Edge of his own box, turns back towards goal and is completely unaware that Gakpo has read it. He wins the ball back, stands up a cross towards Nunez but too much on it.
These defences are far from convincing, to put it mildly.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-2 Real Madrid | Vinicius Jr 35′
RIDICULOUS.
Bajcetic loses it in midfield, Valverde looks to slide an early ball through to Vinicius.
Gomez gets there first, lays it back to Alisson who looks to play it back to Gomez but instead fires the ball straight into Vinicius and it loops into the empty net
38 mins: We’ve had so much drama in this match so far and it’s not even half-time.
Both goalkeepers with awful mistakes and they’ve both proved incredibly costly. Reminder that the away goals rule is no longer in place, so Real don’t have that advantage.
41 mins: Liverpool fans significantly less keen to pile the pressure on Courtois with the ball at his feet, after their own goalkeeper’s error.
The way this is going, there are plenty more goals and mistakes to come tonight
43 mins: Very calm from Gomez, taking down Courtois’ clearance and then driving into midfield. Wins a free-kick.
Things have slightly, slightly settled down after a crazy first 35 minutes or so. Both teams taking a bit of a breather ahead of half-time.
45 mins: Liverpool have a free-kick in a great position, after Modric is penalised for handling the ball. Looks to be a bit of a harsh decision.
Very central, got to be just over 25 yards out from here. Alexander-Arnold and Salah standing over it.
It’s Alexander-Arnold… it’s straight at Courtois.
45+1 mins: Three minutes added on.
Real away on the break, Valverde with a lovely ball in behind for Vinicius. He squares it across the face of goal, Rodrygo looks set to have a tap-in at the back post but it’s unbelievable defending from Robertson!
Saved a certain goal in turning that behind for a corner.
HT: Liverpool 2-2 Real Madrid
Well that was fun.
Goals, mistakes, chances, saves. Everything we could have wished for from this match and more.
Fingers crossed the managers do not tighten things up!
Some first-half stats…
More possession, more shots, more shots on target for Liverpool… it’s level at half-time though.
53% of the ball for the hosts and seven shots, but a mixture of brilliance from Vinicius and a howler from Alisson has let Real back into it.
Ancelotti’s side will be delighted if it stays 2-2 heading into the second leg.
Liverpool 2-2 Real Madrid
2nd Half KICK-OFF
The second half is underway. Can the second half be as good as the first?
GOAL! Liverpool 2-3 Real Madrid | Eder Militao 47′
Real free-kick in a really dangerous position. Vinicius skips past Alexander-Arnold and Gomez then comes across and clatters the winger.
Just outside the area, wide on the left wing. Modric standing over it.
AND REAL MADRID ARE IN FRONT! Modric fires the cross in, Militao powers a header past a motionless Alisson.
49 mins: Gomez again brings down Vinicius, the Liverpool man is running hot. Not impressed with Vinicius going down there.
Liverpool were 2-0 up after 15 minutes, how quickly things have turned around. Hosts have got to find a response.
51 mins: Liverpool really struggling since the break, Real completely on top.
Vinicius gets the ball again, as Valverde pings it wide. He’s got the beating of Alexander-Arnold every time, another Real corner coming up.
53 mins: Liverpool want a penalty… referee not interested.
Alexander-Arnold put the ball into the box, Nunez running onto it at the back post but couldn’t quite reach it on the bounce. Carvajal gave him a bit of a shove, which didn’t help.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-4 Real Madrid | Karim Benzema 55′
REAL IN COMPLETE CONTROL!
This crazy night at Anfield continues. Lovely play between Rodrygo and Benzema, the Frenchman goes for goal from just inside the box.
Takes a big deflection off Gomez and Alisson can do nothing about it!
Karim Benzema plays a one-two with Rodrygo on the edge of the area and hits a shot which takes a huge deflection off Joe Gomez.
Alisson has already dived so the ball goes over his legs
GOAL – Liverpool 2-4 Real Madrid
58 mins: Liverpool have to find at least one more goal tonight, can’t be going to the Bernabeu two goals down. The way it’s going though, it’s Real looking the more likely to score again.
Anfield has been stunned into almost silence since the break.
60 mins: Brief VAR check for a handball from Carvajal, never going to be given.
Vinicius then earns himself an entirely pointless yellow card, steps across and blocks Fabinho from taking a quick free-kick on the halfway line.
63 mins: Real are threatening to run away with this.
Benzema with a glorious touch at the far post, before Vinicius drives inside. Rudiger then tries his luck from miles out, flies well wide.
Gakpo and Nunez off for Liverpool, Jota and Firmino on.
65 mins: Liverpool very nearly halve the deficit!
Corner headed out to Bajcetic, running onto it 25 yards out. Looks to curl an effort into the bottom corner and he’s not far away from doing so, with Courtois at full stretch.
67 mins: GOAL – Liverpool 2-5 Real Madrid
Karim Benzema
Liverpool absolutely ripped to shreds. Caught in the middle of the pitch, Bajcetic should foul Modric but doesn’t… Real are away.
Through to Vinicius, squared to Benzema who takes it round Alisson and then beats the two defenders on the line. So, so calm.
69 mins: Well who knows what Liverpool do know.
If it stays like this, the tie is pretty much done. If they get too brave in pushing for a goal, Real will tear them apart again.
No good options.
71 mins: Real knocking the ball around full of confidence now, away fans making all the noise.
Press isn’t really there from Liverpool, a world away from their performance in the first 15 minutes. They’ve been blown away.
Karim Benzema, 35, is the oldest player to score against Liverpool at Anfield in Europe, breaking Antonio di Natale’s record in October 2012 for Udinese in the Europa League
74 mins: Matip and Milner on for Gomez and Henderson. Gomez has had a truly miserable time of things since the break.
Klopp looks stunned on the touchline – pacing up and down. He’s relieved to see Matip win his first header since coming on, with Vinicius threatening to charge away again.
77 mins: This is a bit better from Liverpool, starting to get things going again. Ideally this would have happened before they conceded five times…
Robertson wins a corner. Awful cross in from the left-back and Carvajal is there to clear it away.
80 mins: Not a huge amount of pace to the game now, Real sitting back and doing a decent enough job of containing the hosts.
Rodrygo has gone for Real, and he’ll be coming off. Former Arsenal man Ceballos will get ten minutes or so at Anfield.
83 mins: Nacho charging towards the Liverpool box, gets a shove in the back from Alexander-Arnold.
Referee, for some reason, waves play on. Decides Liverpool have suffered enough tonight perhaps.
86 mins: Elliott on for Bajcetic, who has had a difficult night. Caught a few times in midfield, as you’d expect from someone with such little experience. Hasn’t had the support behind him or alongside in midfield.
Benzema will get a little rest, as Asensio jogs on to replace him. Kroos on for Modric too.
89 mins: Chance here for Liverpool, as Salah wins it back. Space is there and he has team-mates up with him.
Reverse pass to Elliott, cut out. Wrong chance and the chance goes.
Here come Real, Valverde and Asensio up with him. Real decide to turn back and just keep the ball.
90+1 mins: Three minutes added on.
Away end cheering every Real pass. Liverpool absolutely desperate to just hear the final whistle now.
FT: Liverpool 2-5 Real Madrid
Liverpool 2-0 up after 14 minutes, 5-2 down after 67.
An extraordinary night at Anfield, and one that leaves Real Madrid on the verge of sealing their place in the quarter-finals.
Liverpool need a Bernabeu miracle.
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