Liverpool vs Real Madrid LIVE score: Champions League result as Real come from two goals down to win

Liverpool 2-5 Real Madrid: A 2-0 Liverpool lead soon turned into a heavy defeat on a nightmare night at Anfield

'Somebody should find a new job' - Klopp on UEFA's organisation of CL final

Real Madrid produced a stunning comeback from two goals down to earn a devastating 5-2 victory at Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

In a re-run of last year’s final, the first half was played at a ferocious pace, with the hosts racing into a fourth-minute lead through a superb Darwin Nunez flick, the quickest goal Liverpool have ever scored at Anfield in the Champions League. Anfield erupted 10 minutes later when a horrendous miscontrol from Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois left Mohamed Salah with the simple task of slotting the ball home to make it 2-0.

Yet just as they did on several occasions en route to their 14th European Cup crown last season, Real quickly turned things around, with Vinicius Jr. scoring one sublime strike and one fluke goal after another goalkeeping mistake to level the match by half-time. A bullet Eder Militao header completed the turnaround for Real early in the second half, sapping all the life out of Anfield in the process.

The hosts’ misery was not done there, however, as Karim Benzema’s double ensured Liverpool shipped five goals at home for only the third time this century in all competitions, leaving them with a monumental task to reach the quarter-finals.

Relive all the action from a crazy night at Anfield:

Liverpool vs Real Madrid

• Real Madrid take advantage of Champions League last-16 tie with 5-2 away victory over Liverpool
• Liverpool slip again as Real Madrid comeback cements position as kings of Europe
• 67’ GOAL! - Benzema completes a counter-attack to add to his tally (LIV 2-5 RMA)
• 55’ GOAL! - Benzema gets on the scoresheet with a deflected strike (LIV 2-4 RMA)
• 47’ GOAL! - Militao powers Real Madrid into the lead (LIV 2-3 RMA)
• 36 GOAL! - An error from Alisson gives Vinicius his second of the night (LIV 2-2 RMA)
• 30’ SAVE! - Alisson leaps across to deny Vinicius Jr (LIV 2-1 RMA)
• 21’ GOAL! - Vinicius Jr pulls one back for the visitors (LIV 2-1 RMA)
• 14’ GOAL! - Salah pounces on Courtois’ mistake (LIV 2-0 RMA)
• 4’ GOAL! - Nunez backheels Liverpool in the lead (LIV 1-0 RMA)

[21 February 2023 22:18 · Michael Jones]

Liverpool slip again as Real Madrid comeback cements position as kings of Europe

Another vintage Real Madrid night at Anfield. Liverpool’s failure to match the one modern super club with a better Champions League record continues, and in a worse way than ever before.

It is as if, no matter what they do in this, no matter what they try, Madrid still find a way.

Here, Liverpool quickly went 2-0 up and looked like they could overrun the defending champions. There was a very brief period where they seemed invincible again. It only served as set-up to one of the great Champions League comebacks, and one of the great Champions League away performances.

Madrid no longer looked slow, as might have been perceived from those opening minutes. They were just in control, spraying the ball around the Anfield pitch.

[21 February 2023 22:30 · Michael Jones]

The zombie kings of Europe rise again at Anfield

Esto es Anfield. Y que?

It was entirely wrong in 2009, the message from the Spanish media as Real Madrid came to Anfield seeking to overturn a Yossi Benayoun goal from the first leg. This time around though - even with two Liverpool wins recently - Europe’s finest from last season could have been forgiven for thinking maybe there was an element of that which might ring true this time around.

This is Anfield. So what? After all, the Reds lost here to Leeds, were held by Derby in normal time, couldn’t beat Wolves and drew with Chelsea, all within the past nine games on home soil. This isn’t the Liverpool of last season and the reigning champions of this competition came to Merseyside full of belief of taking not just a positive result, but a win.

It briefly went so differently. Real are hardly the first team to have been hit hard and fast on a European night, the pre-match fury of the home support having an added layer to it on the first Champions League night since the Uefa report was released acknowledging their misrepresentations of the final in Paris last term. “Uefa liars”, one banner on the Kop read.

The match anthem was drowned out; then the real action got underway and so too were the lines of communication between the visitors’ defenders.

[21 February 2023 22:27 · Michael Jones]

Comedy of Anfield goalkeeping errors provide nod to the past

Belatedly, Loris Karius has company. It may be of scant consolation to him; not after the best part of five years, not when his career is defined by it. But, as the German prepares for his first cup final since the 2018 Champions League, two who have been named the best goalkeeper in the world have joined him. They may be a largely distinguished bunch, but it is a band none would want to be a member of.

Maybe Liverpool against Real Madrid does strange things to goalkeepers, even the very finest. In 2018, Karius rolled the ball on to Karim Benzema’s leg and thus into his own net. It was the sort of aberration that felt bordered on the unique. Until, that is, within the space of five meetings of Liverpool and Real, there were two comparable errors. Thanks to Thibaut Courtois and Alisson Becker, a Champions League classic doubled up as a Loris Karius tribute night.

Courtois had been unbeatable in Paris in May, his nine saves a record for a Champions League final. He was defeated twice in the first 14 minutes of the Anfield rematch: once by a rarity – a Darwin Nunez backheel – and then by something still more freakish. Dani Carvajal’s hooked backpass may have bounced a little higher than the Belgian would have liked but it scarcely seemed to present any problems. Until the ball bounced off Courtois’ knee to Mohamed Salah, whose presence in the box was less a case of gegenpressing than optimistic thinking. He was rewarded with a tap-in.

[21 February 2023 22:24 · Michael Jones]

FT Liverpool 2- 5 Real Madrid

Reaction from Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson who told BT Sport: “Very difficult. It’s hard to sum it up straight after the game. Mixed feelings. Frustration with the result.

“For large parts of the first half we performed well and were unlucky to be level at half-time. We made too many mistakes. Real Madrid punished us every time tonight.

“A lot was [down to] their quality. We didn’t help ourselves for sure. We didn’t defend it [Real’s third goal] well enough. After that there was a few balls we could do better. The game went away from us at that point.

“The last two games we kept clean sheets. It’s hard. it’s difficult to come here and speak. Yes, they have a lot of quality. When you’re not 100% defending they punish you. We caused ourselves problems at times.

“It’s a tough one to take in the end. We still played a good first half. We were on top and created some good chances. There was a good chance at 2-0, a scuffle on the line. If that goes in it’s a big moment.

“The second goal obviously is a mistake. The third we’ll be disappointed with. That’s when the game went away from us.

“It’s [the second leg] still a few weeks away. We have to move on quickly. We have Premier League games before then so we have to concentrate on that, and cross this bridge when we come to it.”

[21 February 2023 22:21 · Michael Jones]

FT Liverpool 2- 5 Real Madrid

Liverpool are the first team in Champions League history to take a 2-0 lead but then lose the game by a three-goal margin.

Real Madrid are the first team in Champions League history to come from two goals down and win by a three-goal margin.

[21 February 2023 22:15 · Michael Jones]

FT Liverpool 2- 5 Real Madrid

Liverpool have conceded four goals or more in a home European match for the first time ever.

(PA)

[21 February 2023 22:12 · Michael Jones]

FT Liverpool 2- 5 Real Madrid

Liverpool’s Mo Salah is the first player to have both scored and assisted in as many as eight different games for an English club in Champions League history.

[21 February 2023 22:09 · Michael Jones]

FT Liverpool 2- 5 Real Madrid

How do Liverpool reach the quarter-final stage?

They need to win by three goals to force extra time, or to win 4-0 in 90 minutes at the Bernabeu in the second leg.

[21 February 2023 22:06 · Michael Jones]

Liverpool fans protest against Uefa at Real Madrid match

Liverpool fans made their anger with Uefa clear as they booed the Champions League anthem ahead of Tuesday night’s clash with Real Madrid at Anfield.

Home supporters voiced their displeasure after last week’s independent report put the blame for May’s chaotic Paris final at the governing body’s door.

‘Uefa liars’ read one banner in the Kop and the iconic Champions League anthem was drowned out by jeers and whistles.

[21 February 2023 22:03 · Michael Jones]

FT Liverpool 2- 5 Real Madrid