Liverpool once again faced the opportunity to avenge Real Madrid when the two teams met in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League at 3pm on February 22 (Vietnam time).
Why is Liverpool afraid of Real Madrid?
With 6 Champions League titles, Liverpool can be considered the third greatest team in European football history (only after Real Madrid and AC Milan).
Under coach Jurgen Klopp, they are even stronger. But every time they encounter Real, Liverpool turn into a “lamb”.
Specifically, in just the past 5 years, Liverpool have met Real 3 times. As a result, they lost all 3. Those were two bitter defeats in the Champions League final (in 2018 and 2022), and one in the quarterfinals in 2021.
Why is Liverpool afraid of Real Madrid?
Coach Ancelotti once said that playing with Liverpool is easier than Man City and Chelsea. Experts also have this opinion. Because the “red brigade” is always loyal to the aggressive attack style.
Liverpool is ready to “overwhelm” opponents with poor skills. But Real Madrid, with its veteran stars, can always withstand the pressure of all opponents
Both Liverpool and Real are in trouble
But at this reunion, Real is facing many unfavorable factors. Ancelotti’s teachers and students had to march to Anfield without Kroos, Tchouameni and Mendy on the registration list. In addition, Benzema is also racing to recover from injury.
In the opposite direction, Liverpool continuously received good news last time. Van Dijk, Fabinho, Firmino and Jota are fully fit again. As a result, Liverpool regained their form with 2 consecutive wins.
But worries still exist with coach Jurgen Klopp. Darwin Nunez suffered a shoulder injury in the win over Newcastle last weekend. The Uruguayan striker is currently the soul of Liverpool’s play. His ability to play is still open.
Losing Thiago is also a heavy loss for Liverpool. For the past several months, the Spaniard has been almost the only player to play stably in the midfield of “The Kop”.
Young midfielder Bajcetic has also made many progress and is almost certain to kick this match. However, the 18-year-old player is still too immature before Real’s super midfield. Despite the absence of Kroos and Tchouameni, coach Ancelotti still has Modric, Valverde and Camavinga.
Fans sided with Liverpool – with a kind of feeling that “nobody wins forever, no one loses forever”. Sportsmole’s survey shows that more than 43% of fans believe Liverpool will win the first leg, while the corresponding figure for Real is only nearly 39%.
Opta’s computer data also rates Liverpool’s probability of winning as 42.8%, while Real’s only 32.2%.
On the contrary, experts believe that Liverpool will play well in this match but not have the courage to preserve the victory. Both Sportsmole and Whoscored predicted a 2-2 draw.
The result of a 1-1 draw is also the score that Sportsmole’s computer determines has the highest probability of occurrence (12.3%).
* Expert’s choice: choose Real to accept the left half of the ball, the match has more than 2 goals
* Prediction: draw 2-2