by Real Madrid welcomes Liverpool this Wednesday, March 15, from 3:00 p.m. (Colombian time), in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, broadcast by ESPN and Star+a few days away from visiting Barcelona on Sunday in a league ‘classic’ that could decide the Spanish League.
The team Meringuedefending champions of the continental tournament, enter the match with a three-goal advantage after winning the first leg, at Anfield, 5-2, but Carlo Ancelotti’s men cannot be trusted.
In the last edition, Real Madrid beat Chelsea 3-1 in the first leg of the quarterfinals, but in the second leg a goal from Rodrygo, 10 minutes from time, forced extra time and another from Karim Benzema ended up giving the pass to the whites despite losing 3-2.
“The message is simple: don’t make calculations, play the best we can, plan a game like in the first leg, we’ll try to get into the game from the first minute, playing with maximum intensity”Ancelotti said on Tuesday.
Benzema in full
Coach Meringue He is counting on recovering Benzema for this match, who did not play on Saturday against Espanyol in the League due to ankle discomfort.
“Tomorrow it will be 100%,” said the coach Meringue.
The Frenchman, who scored a double in the first leg, will have to once again show his best version in the madridistas’ fetish competition, after his continuous injuries this season have hindered his performance.
Ancelotti could also recover French winger Ferland Mendy for this match, who is recovering from a muscle injury in his left leg.
Benzema will be accompanied by Vinícius, the third best scorer in the continental tournament with six goals, who also scored a double in the first leg and on Saturday opened the account for Real Madrid against Espanyol (3-1 victory).
“It will be a challenge to stop him, but if we want to have a chance of passing the tie we have to leave less space for ‘Vini’ and try to stop him”warned the Liverpool midfielder Fabinho on Tuesday.
A victory against the English team would not only give them a pass to the next phase of the Champions League, but would also be an injection of morale for the crucial league match against Barcelona on Sunday at the Camp Nou.
The azulgranas lead the Spanish championship with a nine point advantage over the You meringuesso a victory for the locals could be an almost final blow to win the title.
They dream of a comeback
The whites began a week without the right to fail on Saturday with a victory against Espanyol and now they face their second test against Liverpool, who will arrive at the Bernabéu wanting to give everything to get through the phase.
The English team, ranked sixth in their championship, 24 points behind the leader, Arsenal, is aware of the difficulty of overcoming the result of the first leg.
“Even if there was only a 1% chance, I would like to try, so we are here to play a very strong opponent and try to win,” Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp said.
“It’s possible, not likely, but possible and we’ll see what happens,” he added.
To try to overcome the tie, Liverpool will look to their Egyptian striker, Mohamed Salah, top scorer in the current edition of the Champions League with eight goals.
Salah should be accompanied in attack by the Uruguayan Darwin Núñez, author of 14 goals in 32 official matches this season.
Probable payrolls:
Real Madrid: Courtois; Carvajal, Militão, Alaba, Nacho; Modrić, Tchouaméni, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius. Coach: Carlo Ancelotti (ITA).
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Bajcetic; Salah, Jota, Núñez; Gakpo. Coach: Jurgen Klopp (GER).
Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER).
