2008-2009 UEFA Champions League – Round Of 16: Liverpool Crush Madrid 4-0 (5-0 agg.)
March 13th 2009 05:16
If you follow the three “big” leagues in Europe like I do, you would know that Real Madrid have been simply stunning in La Liga as the Champions League's round of 16 drew closer. They had reduced the gap between them and Barcelona to four points (now six); an amazing feat considering the fact that Barça were 18 points ahead of the Meringues at some point. Now explain to me how the same team can get so thoroughly humiliated on the big stage against Liverpool?
Yes, Rafael Benitez seems to be a Champions League guru, always getting the Reds to the semifinals - at least - but a 4-0 beating? Were Madrid that bad or is the Premiership's “Big Four” too good for the rest of Europe? We can only speculate but unless Barcelona meets one of those teams and goes through, we must concede that “maybe” they're that good.
Madrid probably expected Liverpool to sit back and hold tight, protecting their away-goal while their opponents could try to break through. Instead, the Reds didn't give their visitors one inch of space until the score was 3-0 Liverpool. The Whites simply weren't prepared. By the third minute of play, Iker Casillas had to make two amazing saves almost back-to-back: one on Fernando Torres, the other on Javier Mascherano. Torres and Steven Gerrard were simply on fire toying with Madrid's defense as if it was child's play. And when Madrid tried to catch up to them, Ryan Babel was thrown into the mix with runs to the middle to confuse the defense even more. Torres opened the score at the 15th minute and five minutes later, Casillas was forced into another great save. As the Spaniard made save after save, Madrid had no control whatsoever on the game. Making two consecutive passes was a hassle and the pressure from Liverpool's forwards prevented them from building anything from the back.
Heinze's foul inside the penalty box at the 27th minute was the end of the game for me. The call was borderline at best. If it had happened in a Manchester United game, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't get called (the refs at Old Trafford missed much worse). But it did, and Gerrard put his team 2-0 up, 3-0 on aggregate.
Reina was finally tested at the 41st minute with surprise-shot by Sneijder but the goalkeeper reacted just in time to put the ball out for a corner. The half ended on that note, and Juande Ramos used the break to make some much needed changes.
Ramos replaced the shockingly invisible Arjen Robben by Marcelo on the left-wing, but the impact wasn't immediate as the Reds scored their third goal of the match via Gerrard one minute after the kick-off. The hosts cooled down after that, and Marcelo's presence proved to be a definite upgrade over Robben as the young Brazilian did exactly what Babel was doing on the other side of the pitch for Liverpool. Unfortunately for Madrid, Liverpool's back-four was solid and the visitors rarely ventured inside Reina's box. The introduction of Van der Vaart and Guti didn't influence the end result as Liverpool scored a fourth goal in the dying minutes of the game, twisting the knife in Real's gut.
In the end, Real Madrid were surprised by Liverpool's quick tempo and didn't react quick enough. Juande Ramos' inexperience on the European was probably a big factor in how Benitez created his gameplan, but there's no excuse for the disappearance of both Robben and Higuain who deserted their teammates when they needed them the most. Casillas has nothing to reproach himself of (why do I feel like I just murdered English grammar with that sentence?), but the rest of the team should take a long look at themselves in the mirror and figure out where it all went wrong.
Highlights video below...
Real Madrid's line-up: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Fabio Cannavaro (Rafael Van der Vaart, 63rd), Gabriel Heinze; Arjen Robben, Fernando Gago (Guti, 76th), Lassana Diarra, Wesley Sneijder; Gonzalo Higuain, Raul.
Yes, Rafael Benitez seems to be a Champions League guru, always getting the Reds to the semifinals - at least - but a 4-0 beating? Were Madrid that bad or is the Premiership's “Big Four” too good for the rest of Europe? We can only speculate but unless Barcelona meets one of those teams and goes through, we must concede that “maybe” they're that good.
Madrid probably expected Liverpool to sit back and hold tight, protecting their away-goal while their opponents could try to break through. Instead, the Reds didn't give their visitors one inch of space until the score was 3-0 Liverpool. The Whites simply weren't prepared. By the third minute of play, Iker Casillas had to make two amazing saves almost back-to-back: one on Fernando Torres, the other on Javier Mascherano. Torres and Steven Gerrard were simply on fire toying with Madrid's defense as if it was child's play. And when Madrid tried to catch up to them, Ryan Babel was thrown into the mix with runs to the middle to confuse the defense even more. Torres opened the score at the 15th minute and five minutes later, Casillas was forced into another great save. As the Spaniard made save after save, Madrid had no control whatsoever on the game. Making two consecutive passes was a hassle and the pressure from Liverpool's forwards prevented them from building anything from the back.
Heinze's foul inside the penalty box at the 27th minute was the end of the game for me. The call was borderline at best. If it had happened in a Manchester United game, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't get called (the refs at Old Trafford missed much worse). But it did, and Gerrard put his team 2-0 up, 3-0 on aggregate.
Reina was finally tested at the 41st minute with surprise-shot by Sneijder but the goalkeeper reacted just in time to put the ball out for a corner. The half ended on that note, and Juande Ramos used the break to make some much needed changes.
Ramos replaced the shockingly invisible Arjen Robben by Marcelo on the left-wing, but the impact wasn't immediate as the Reds scored their third goal of the match via Gerrard one minute after the kick-off. The hosts cooled down after that, and Marcelo's presence proved to be a definite upgrade over Robben as the young Brazilian did exactly what Babel was doing on the other side of the pitch for Liverpool. Unfortunately for Madrid, Liverpool's back-four was solid and the visitors rarely ventured inside Reina's box. The introduction of Van der Vaart and Guti didn't influence the end result as Liverpool scored a fourth goal in the dying minutes of the game, twisting the knife in Real's gut.
In the end, Real Madrid were surprised by Liverpool's quick tempo and didn't react quick enough. Juande Ramos' inexperience on the European was probably a big factor in how Benitez created his gameplan, but there's no excuse for the disappearance of both Robben and Higuain who deserted their teammates when they needed them the most. Casillas has nothing to reproach himself of (why do I feel like I just murdered English grammar with that sentence?), but the rest of the team should take a long look at themselves in the mirror and figure out where it all went wrong.
Highlights video below...
Real Madrid's line-up: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Fabio Cannavaro (Rafael Van der Vaart, 63rd), Gabriel Heinze; Arjen Robben, Fernando Gago (Guti, 76th), Lassana Diarra, Wesley Sneijder; Gonzalo Higuain, Raul.
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