Goalless.

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Liverpool hosted Real Madrid for the UEFA Champions League second leg tie, after suffering a 3-1 defeat in the Quarter-Final first leg. Liverpool would hope to produce the magic that saw them dump Barcelona in an epic comeback but on this day, it wasn't meant to be.

Liverpool started brightly and you can sense that determination to cause another upset when a long ball found Mane in the 2nd minute. He shielded the ball well and on the volley, laid a pass into the path of Salah, whose attempt on goal was saved by the feet of Courtois. Great early chance but nothing came out of it.

Courtois was at his brilliant best again in the 11th minute after Salah dazzled on the touchline and was able to wriggle through to find Firmino. Firmino's pass to James Milner was timely as Milner's effort towards the top right-hand corner of the post was parried away for a corner kick by the goalkeeper. Ozan Kabak also had his half-chance in the 18th minute when an indirect freekick from the side was delivered into the box but he headed way over the bar.

Liverpool got off the hook in the 20th minute when Benzema produced his own bit of skills to displace his markers, create space for himself and deceived the defence line who thought he would play a pass across the face of the box but he went for the shot himself and his effort was saved by the upright. A moment of relief for Liverpool there. The threat wasn't nullified yet as Vinicius gathered the ball and was able to produce another shot at the goal which Alisson saved.

Salah should have given his side the lead again in the 41st minute when Wijnaldum's body movement displaced his marker. He brilliantly found Mane who in turn found Salah in the box. Rather than keep his effort down, Salah blazed it over. Wijnaldum suffered the same fate as Salah when Alexander Arnold raced through on goal. He managed to get the ball into the path of Wijnaldum in the box as well and he blazed it over from that kind of range. These missed chances definitely haunted Liverpool at the final whistle.

The first half ended with the scoreline still at 0-0. Liverpool started the second half as they started the first when a few second after the restart, Arnold produced a brilliant delivery into the box. Firmino was on hand to gather it and produced a brilliant shot at goal which Courtois was on hand to save. Just 2 minutes after, Arnold produced another delivery into the box and Firmino again was on hand to get to it but he couldn't quite direct his header goal-ward. Firmino got another attempt on goal in the 56th minute but he also blazed over.

Real Madrid sat back and was contented to hitting Liverpool on the break which almost paid off in the 65th minute when a long ball at the back set Vinicius through on goal but Alisson was quick out of his line to prevent Vinicius's attempted lob and in quick reaction too, he saved the follow up from Benzema's feet as well. Those saves proved vital to deny Real Madrid a goal but not enough to keep Liverpool in the competition.

Jota came on and had his effort as well in the 70th minute but the closest he could get was the side of the net. In the 81st minute, Benzema wasted a golden chance to win it for Real Madrid when an in-swinging cross into the box found him. Rather than head the ball into the back of the net he could only head it down and the ball went over the bar.

In the 2nd minute of added time, Mendy carelessly gave the ball away which Thiago quickly got off Casemiro before he got to him. He gathered it and found Salah, whose attempt at goal was expertly saved by Courtois who kept the ball out with a brilliant block from the angle.

The game ended 0-0 and Read Madrid advanced and they would be meeting Chelsea for the mouth-watering Semi-Final tie.


Thank you for your time.


My pen doesn't bleed, it speaks, with speed and ease.

Still me,

My tongue is like the pen of a ready writer.

Olawalium; (Love's chemical content, in human form). Take a dose today: doctor's order.



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