Real Madrid played You’ll Never Walk Alone at the Santiago Bernabeu after beating Liverpool in the Champions League. They did this to honor a gesture made by the Anfield club in the first leg.
Just 12 minutes before the end of the game, Karim Benzema scored the only goal of the second leg, giving the team a 6-2 win over all. The Reds’ attempt to make an unlikely comeback failed.
The Spanish giants then celebrated their win by playing the song most closely associated with Liverpool. Reds fans in the stadium cheered as the song played.
Amancio Amaro, a former president of Real Madrid and a club legend, died the day before the first leg of the tie at Anfield. In honor of Amaro, Liverpool put flowers on the pitch before the game, which was a nice thing to do.
Read fans also cheered for the team as they left the field after their 5-2 win, which the club greatly appreciated.
Carlo Ancelotti, the manager of Real, said after the second leg, “They respected Amancio in the first leg, so it’s a fair thing for our club to do for them.”
All of the damage had been done in the first leg, but even though Jurgen Klopp’s team was down 5-2, fans and dreamers still held out hope that they could pull off a performance like Istanbul 2005 or Anfield 2019 against Barcelona.
Klopp gave his team a 1% chance of winning before the game, but if Alisson Becker hadn’t been so good in goal, all hope would have been lost in the first quarter.
This was the 14-time champions’ 300th Champions League match, and all of that experience showed in a balanced and controlled attack and defense, topped off by a goal from Benzema, who has always been their biggest rival.
And one of their most experienced players, Virgil van Dijk, made a mistake that gave Vinicius Jr. a second chance to pass to Benzema, who scored with an open goal in the 78th minute to end Liverpool’s slim chances.
Klopp’s 4-2-3-1 attacking formation was meant to score goals, but it also made them more vulnerable to counterattacks. For most of the first half, it seemed like either Alisson or the woodwork – or both – kept Real from scoring.
Early on, a shot from Darwin Nunez forced Thibaut Courtois to save with his legs. This got the home team going, and it was a bit of a surprise that they hadn’t broken the tie by halftime.
Toni Kroos shot one into Alisson’s middle, and then Real broke out on a two-on-two after a Liverpool corner. Vinicius Jr. played in Benzema, but Gakpo ran back to block.
Alisson’s first big move came when he blocked Vinicius Jr.’s close-range volley from the corner.
His second goal was more impressive, but just as good. He reached up and tipped Eduardo Camavinga’s long-range shot over the crossbar.
Liverpool was in trouble, but they were able to get out of it when Gakpo missed a glancing header off a cross by Alexander-Arnold and Nunez weakly headed the ball toward the goal off a pass by Fabinho.
But the Uruguayan player did much better when he cut in from the left and curled a low shot with his right foot that Courtois had to tip around the post.
Vinicius Jr. did the same thing at the other end, but Alisson made one of his easier saves of the half. Gakpo was the last player to try to score before halftime, but Courtois blocked his shot.
After Andy Robertson gave the ball away 30 yards from his own goal, Alisson quickly stopped Federico Valverde and Karim Benzema. At the other end, Salah’s refusal to pass the ball to Nunez cost Liverpool a good chance.
Klopp took a chance ten minutes into the second half by replacing Nunez and Diogo Jota with Roberto Firmino and Harvey Elliott and going back to a 4-3-3 formation. Real Madrid still had the best chances, though, as Valverde’s header went just too high and Benzema shot over the bar.
But the French striker wasn’t going to give up, and when Vinicius Jr.’s shot went wide, a frozen Van Dijk gave him a second chance. Benzema, who has scored more goals against Liverpool in Europe than any other player, slid in his seventh goal against them.
