Liverpool didn’t make a historic recovery. The Champions League championship defense of Real Madrid has advanced to the quarterfinals.
Chances of Liverpool making another run to the champions league game were dashed on Wednesday. Lost 1-0 to the league champions at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium after trailing by three goals after the first leg.
Karim Benzema scored late and Madrid advanced to the last eight for the third straight season. A 6-2 aggregate score following a 5-2 win from the first leg in England, when it rallied from two goals down early in the first half. Liverpool was trying to pull off something never done before in the Champions League — erase a three-goal loss as a visitor. Only five times the team that lost at home rallied in the second leg in Europe’s top club competition.
“You needed a special performance and we didn’t show a special performance,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said. “In moments, it was a good performance, but Real Madrid was the team in control the whole game. Madrid was the better team and deserved to advance.”
The only time Madrid failed to advance in the Champions League after winning the first leg on the road was in 2019. When it was eliminated by Ajax in the round of 16.
“It was the type of match we wanted,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “It was difficult for them to press up front. The team played well, it was focused from the start.”
Napoli defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 in the other round-of-16 match on Wednesday. Joined Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Manchester City in the draw for the quarterfinals on Friday.
Benzema scored from close range after a pass by Vinícius Júnior in the 79th minute. .
