Liverpool will certainly fail to advance to the quarter-finals of the 2022/2023 UEFA Champions League after losing twice to Real Madrid in the round of 16. The first meeting which was held at Anfield Stadium on Wednesday, Real Madrid, who had trailed by two goals, was finally able to win with a final score of 2-5 over Liverpool.
Then in the second meeting on Thursday, the Reds again lost to Los Merengues at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. The victory was obtained through a single goal from Karim Benzema in the 77th minute. This also made the club from the city of Madrid win with an aggregate of 2-6 over Liverpool.
For Liverpool, the loss to Real Madrid made them again fail to win when they met the Spanish representative. Of the last nine meetings in the UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid have dominated with six wins. Liverpool won two wins and the rest ended in a draw.
Even sadder, the Reds have always lost to Los Merengues when they met in two editions of the Champions League final, namely the 2018/2019 and 2021/2022 seasons.
As a result of always losing to Real Madrid, it would not be wrong to say that Real Madrid has always been Liverpool’s nightmare in European competition. Liverpool’s last victory over Real Madrid occurred in the round of 16 of the 2008/2009 UEFA Champions League. At that time, Liverpool, coached by Rafael Benitez, managed to beat Real Madrid in two meetings at once.
Liverpool’s defeat early this morning also added a bad record for their coach who had never won from Carlo Ancelotti in the last six meetings. From 13 meetings, Jürgen Klopp only won 3 wins and 2 draws. Meanwhile, Carlo Ancelotti won 7 wins.
For Real Madrid, qualifying for the Champions League quarter-finals has opened up their chance to win their 15th Champions League trophy again. As is known, the defending UEFA Champions League champion is listed as the most successful club in Europe with the most collection of UEFA Champions League titles with 14 trophies.
Elimination of Liverpool in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League this season raises questions for the team based at the Anfield Stadium. What really happened to the Reds to make them always lose to Real Madrid? If you look at the composition of the players, both Real Madrid and Liverpool are both inhabited by great players.
Each has a goal machine they rely on. Liverpool with Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez, while Real Madrid with Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior. Regarding coaches, Jrgen Klopp is not an arbitrary coach. Eight seasons in charge of the Reds, the German coach has donated seven titles, including the English Premier League title for the 2019/2020 season.
His best achievement was when he brought Liverpool to three different Champions League finals, with one of them winning. From the Real Madrid side, Carlo Ancelotti is a coach who has rich experience in the Champions League with a collection of four trophies, of which two were won with Los Merengues.
Liverpool and Real Madrid are great teams with great players and coaches. However, Ancelotti is superior to Klopp in terms of strategy and mentality of his players. This can be seen from the record of meetings between the two coaches, which until now has been dominated by the Italian coach.
Then, if you look at Liverpool’s meeting record against Spanish clubs when they met in the UEFA Champions League, it’s also not so bad. Last season, Liverpool managed to get rid of Villarreal in the semifinals after winning 2-5 on aggregate. Even though in the final they lost to Real Madrid who are also representatives from Spain.
Liverpool also beat another Spanish representative, namely Barcelona in the semifinals of the 2018/2019 Champions League. In that season, the Reds also managed to become champions after beating the Spurs in the top match. However, when they returned to meet the club from Madrid, Liverpool had to admit the toughness of Atletico Madrid, who eliminated them in the last 16 of the 2019/2020 Champions League.
In essence, Liverpool is a fantastic club because it was able to penetrate three different editions of the Champions League final. But Real Madrid is much better with the depth of the squad and the mentality of the players. Even though they are struggling in La Liga, when playing in the Champions League, Los Merengues always looks extraordinary.
The coach factor also greatly influenced how the genius of Carlo Ancelotti was able to beat Jrgen Klopp again and maintain his winning record. Congratulations to Real Madrid, tough opponents are waiting in the quarter-finals.
ASL
