07:07 PM
Jake Humphrey
Apologises for BT Sport’s terrible coverage of last year’s Champions League final and for buying the Uefa/Stade de France/Flics narrative hook, line and sinker. He emphasises, as last week’s report proved, that Liverpool fans were blameless for the congestion and the dangerous conditions.
Alan Tyers wrote about BT Sport’s shortcomings here.
07:03 PM
BT Sport get things going in traditional fashion
Ce sont les meilleures équipes
Es sind die allerbesten Mannschaften
The main event
Die Meister
Die Besten
Les grandes équipes
The champions
It’s BT Sport’s last season of doing this before they mutate into Trinitrotoluene Sports.
06:56 PM
Today’s referee
Is Istvan Kovacs from Romania who did Man City’s chaotic 4-3 victory over Real Madrid in the home leg of last year’s semi-final.
06:48 PM
Chris Bascombe on the two teams
Relief for Liverpool as Darwin Nunez’s shoulder injury is not as bad as feared. The Uruguayan had a scan on Sunday which revealed no serious damage. Klopp has named an unchanged line-up in the ultimate show of faith in teenager Stefan Bajcetic.
Real Madrid have flown Toni Kroos to Liverpool today after the German was originally ruled out. He is on the bench. One must presume he flew directly by private jet to Liverpool John Lennon Airport rather than on the Easyjet through Manchester.
06:46 PM
Your teams in colour
06:42 PM
Real Madrid have gone very early with their team news
Real Madrid Courtois; Carvajal, Eder Militao, Rudiger, Alaba; Valverde, Camavinga, Modric; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius Junior.
Substitutes Lunin, Vallejo, Nacho, Hazard, Kroos, Asensio, Odriozola, Lucas Vasquez, Dani Ceballos, Mario Martin, Arribas, Alvaro.
06:16 PM
Thunderfoot is on the Beatles trail
Chris Bascombe reports:
The legends are out in force ahead of tonight’s Liverpool v Real Madrid clash, and revellers at the city centre tourist spot on Mathew Street have been enjoying the company of Brazil and Real superstar Roberto Carlos. Carlos and his entourage have been taking in the sights around the world famous Cavern Club before heading to Anfield.
Picture courtesy of @KopitePodcast
05:44 PM
Preview – What is a bogey team?
Welcome to live coverage of tonight’s Round of 16 first leg match between last year’s finalists Liverpool, who have won the European Cup six times, and Real Madrid, who won their 14th at Stade de France last May in a match overshadowed by negligent and dangerous policing before the match and an insensitivity to supporters’ safety before, during and after it.
Given that Real Madrid have prevailed in their two most recent meetings in finals (in a competition, let’s not forget, they are conspiring to make extinct and replace with their own self-serving version), there has been some strange chat this week about them being the Red Men’s ‘bogey team’. I think that stretches the concept of ‘bogey team’ beyond credulity. The most successful club in the history of European competition can’t be a bogey team. Cardiff, who have beaten them 16 times in 29 matches, fit the bill far better.
Anyway, Liverpool come into the match with a record of one win, one draw and one defeat in Real Madrid’s three trips to Anfield and on the back of a mini-revival after defeats by Brighton in league and Cup and that hopeless performance at Molineux. Victories in the derby and at St James’ with a more balanced midfield, defensive confidence and Cody Gakpo starting to find his feet, equip them with the belief that they can engineer a late charge like 2020-21’s when their unbeaten 10-match run propelled them into the top four. If that looks more remote this time as they start from even further back, they can remove one obstacle to qualifying for the Champions League next season by winning it if they can keep their tentative renaissance bandwagon rolling against the champions.
Real Madrid, who triumphed in Paris largely by virtue of Thibaut Courtois, Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde, have been pretty consistent this season but find themselves trailing Barcelona in La Liga by eight points following post World Cup defeats at Villarreal and Mallorca. They topped their Champions League group comfortably enough but wobbled with an uncharacteristically dozy display at RB Leipzig in a match they lost by the flattering scoreline of 3-2.
Vinicius, who is in magnificent form despite the disgusting, racist abuse he is subjected to in Spain, scored twice to help Real Madrid win the Club World Cup a fortnight ago and his four goals in this competition for once eclipses Karim Benzema who knits everything together but has yet to score in this year’s competition. Toni Kroos and Aurelien Tchouameni have been suffering from unspecified illnesses and have not travelled, while Ferland Mendy is still out with a quad injury which means David Alaba will carry on at left-back instead of centre-half. But Courtois made his comeback from a twanged hamstring in Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Osasuna and will play tonight.
Liverpool will give a late fitness test to Darwin Nunez who hurt his shoulder at St James’ Park on Saturday night and are also missing Luis Diaz, Ibrahima Konate and Thiago Alcantara. Arthur is back in training but highly unlikely to be risked though Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino are champing at the bit after their long lay-offs.
Source link: https://sports.yahoo.com/liverpool-vs-real-madrid-champions-181931993.html?src=rss
