Home ›› 17 Mar 2023 ›› Sport
Karim Benzema struck for Real Madrid to clinch a 1-0 win over Liverpool and qualification for the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday 6-2 on aggregate.
After the wild first leg clash at Anfield in February left Madrid sitting pretty with a three-goal advantage, Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp said his side only had a 1% chance of turning the tie around.
They stemmed the bleeding at the Santiago Bernabeu but never looked like mounting a stirring comeback.
Madrid have now knocked Liverpool out of the Champions League in three consecutive seasons, including beating them in last year’s final.
“It was a complicated game but from the start we showed we wanted to go through, and we are in the quarter-finals,” Benzema told Movistar.
The 14-time winners showed the nous to keep Liverpool at arm’s length, with defenders Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger determined to shut out the visitors, along with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Reigning champions Madrid could have significantly stretched their lead, save for a series of superb stops by Liverpool stopper Alisson Becker and some unusually profligate finishing.
In the first leg, Madrid were lethal, with Vinicius Junior and Benzema netting twice each -- neither were as decisive.
Yet eventually they combined for Madrid’s winner after 78 minutes, with Vinicius slipping as he tried to shoot, but hooking the ball into Benzema’s path for a simple tap-in.
Madrid’s only worry was seeing their captain limp off after his goal amid an injury-hit season -- Benzema said it was only a blow on the shin and Carlo Ancelotti confirmed he would be fit to face Barcelona in the Clasico on Sunday.
“Madrid were in control of the whole game, Ali had to make two sensational saves to keep us in the game,” Klopp told reporters.
Liverpool, deeply inconsistent in this campaign, took heart from their 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United in the Premier League, but could not produce the same magic under the Bernabeu lights.
Klopp started with Diogo Jota alongside his usual attacking trio of Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo, deploying as much firepower as he could to try and mount a comeback.
The first chance of the game fell to Nunez but Courtois thwarted the Uruguayan, who was fed by Salah.
At the other end Madrid sliced open Liverpool on various occasions, and Alisson made a stunning save to deny Vinicius from point-blank range.
Eduardo Camavinga crashed a long-range effort against the crossbar, with Alisson getting his fingertips to it.
The Brazilian goalkeeper made further saves from Vinicius, Fede Valverde and Benzema as Madrid controlled the game.
