On Tuesday, Real Madrid staged another incredible Champions League comeback from a 0-2 down track to defeat Liverpool 5-2 with the help of duo, Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema, in the first leg of their last-16 match at Anfield.
Earlier, in a repeat of last season’s Champions League final, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah had given the hosts a perfect start.
Then, Vinicius scored twice to level by halftime, and after that, Eder Militato gave Carlo Ancelotti’s men the lead, and magical Benzema’s double put the holders on a smooth path to the quarterfinals.
“We suffered a lot early on, you can’t start games like that, but fortunately the team had a cool head,” said Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti.
“Up front today we were very efficient. Every time we broke the press of Liverpool we were able to create chances.”
Defeat compounds a disastrous season for Liverpool after coming so close to an unprecedented quadruple of trophies last year.
Jurgen Klopp’s men are languishing in eighth in the Premier League and now appear to have no realistic chance of silverware this season.
“I think Carlo thinks the tie is over and I think it is too in the moment,” said Klopp. “In three weeks we will get to the game and take our chances.
“We go there and try to win the game. Whether it is possible, I don’t know, but we will try.”
Madrid’s 1-0 victory when the sides met in Paris last May was overshadowed by chaotic scenes outside the Stade de France that put the lives of fans at risk.
The Liverpool support responded by drowning out the Champions League anthem with a chorus of boos, while a series of banners in the Kop stand took aim at UEFA and the French authorities.
Once the action got underway, the players produced the spectacle expected of a clash between two clubs with a combined 20 European Cups.
Liverpool briefly turned back the clock to some of their best nights under Klopp to explode out of the blocks.
Nunez produced a magical finish to flick home Salah’s pass inside four minutes.
Madrid overcame two-goal deficits to Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City on their road to a 14th European Cup last season and were forced to do so again by their normally solid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
A lose touch from the Belgian handed Salah Liverpool’s second on a plate as the Egyptian became the Reds’ all-time top goal scorer in European competition with 42.
But the defending champions again showed remarkable powers of recovery to turn the tie around in little over 30 minutes of play.
“Obviously we didn’t expect to start like we did but at 2-0 down I thought about the City game in last year’s semi-final in the hope that we could do the same,” added Ancelotti.