Real Madrid, defending champion, ‘pulled from the gallows’ this Tuesday to beat Liverpool (5-2), in a spectacular turnaround towards the quarterfinals of the Football Champions League, while Napoli beat Eintracht Frankfurt (2 -0).
At Anfield Road, in the reissue of the final of the 2021/22 edition, the first leg of the ‘eighth’ could not have started better for the British, who today had the Portuguese Diogo Jota -he entered the field in minute 64- minute – , and Fábio Carvalho from the bench.
The former Benfica player Darwin Núñez beat Thibaut Courtois, shortly after the fourth minute, after finishing off a ball served by the Egyptian Mo Salah with his heel, who, shortly after, took advantage of a ‘tassel’ from the Belgian goalkeeper to extend the lead on the scoreboard
The blunder of the experienced goalkeeper was mitigated in the first half, when the Brazilian Vinícius Júnior closed the gap with a beautiful cross shot and placed into the back of the net by his compatriot Alisson.
The Spanish emblem, which last season reached its 14th trophy -double that of the second in the ranking, AC Milan-, also arrived in Liverpool with the scepter of the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup and began to measure up of his The status of favourite, thanks to Alisson, who did not want to fall behind Courtois: when he was trying to clear a ball from Joe Gómez, he ended up kicking it against Vinícius Júnior, who scored twice, after 36 minutes.
The second half was a real ‘run over’ by Real against Liverpool, practically solving the tie, with three more goals, this time from the former Porto Militão (47) and Karim Benzema, at 55 and 67, with the first goal for French deflected from Joe Gomez before entering.
At Anfield, Liverpool fans protested, through banners and chants, against UEFA, as it was shown that the incidents in the 2022 Champions League final in Paris were not the fault of English fans.
The team led by the German Jürgen Klopp will try to return to the tie in the second leg, at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, in Madrid, on March 15.
In Frankfurt, in the challenge directed by the Portuguese Artur Soares Dias, one of the figures started as the goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, before a saved penalty, which left the Georgian Kvaratskhelia on his feet (minute 36), punishing a child foul. committed by the Portuguese Aurélio Buta on the Nigerian Victor Osimhen.
Four minutes later, the fearsome African striker would even be the author of the first goal of the first leg of the ‘eighth’, after 40 minutes, after effectively completing a quick transition down the right wing of the transalpine attack.
In the second part, the Germans’ mission to fight for the result became even more complicated, after the Frenchman Kolo Muani saw how Artur Soares Dias showed him the straight red, after a tough tackle on Anguissa.
With a numerical advantage, the full-back Di Lorenzo went up to the area to ‘taste the foot’, at 65, and make life even more difficult for the Germans.
The Portuguese international Mário Rui did not leave the substitute bench for the visitors.
The Neapolitans, the outstanding leader of Serie A, have never gone beyond the round of 16, where they fell in 2011/12 (Chelsea), 2016/17 (Real Madrid) and 2019/20 (FC Barcelona), but now they are very closer to achieving.
The second leg will be played at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, in Naples, on March 15.
Source: TSF
