Klopp’s side rue missed chances against Real
In a season of regrets, frustrations, broken dreams and broken bodies for Liverpool this will rank highly as one that got away. Chance after chance was spurned – at least six clear-cut ones in all – and with them went the Champions League dream. Liverpool will now be trophyless. It will be Real Madrid, the 13-times winners, who will face Chelsea in the semi-finals.
Liverpool return to the Premier League and now face a desperate fight to be in this competition next season but while they lost the tie, while they can no longer target an evocative return to Istanbul for the final, this was more like what Jurgen Klopp had called for.
This was finally a bit of what he called the “real” Liverpool and they will wonder just how they did not score in their attempt not only to reach the last four but also to avenge the 2018 final and recapture the spirit of 2019 when they so memorably overturned a 3-0 deficit against Barcelona. So much is made of the absence of fans and it is hard not to envisage that they would have made a difference here as Liverpool’s energy eventually and inevitably dipped in front of the empty stands.
Zinedine Zidane, the Real coach, has complained that his own team are running out of gas – it should be remembered they have severe injury problems and played El Clasico against Barcelona between the two legs of this quarter-final – but they are a far more rugged, far better-drilled outfit than they are given credit for. On balance they deserve to go through to, remarkably, their eighth semi-final in just 10 years and the 30th overall.
There will be “what ifs” from Liverpool and it could have been so different had Thibaut Courtois not thwarted them twice in the first half, while Klopp may wonder whether he should have started with his most in-form forward, Diogo Jota. It will hurt that for all their effort Liverpool did not score despite having 13 shots inside the area. It is now nine matches at Anfield in 2021 with just one win and three goals.
Denied the chance to summon past glories, to whip up an atmosphere, to appeal to a fervent crowd, a baying Kop, Liverpool had to rely on something inside and hit the game hard in their attempt to score the two unanswered goals that would take them through after the disjointed, disappointing 3-1 defeat in Spain.
In fact the breakthrough almost came inside two minutes when Sadio Mane cushioned a long ball forward across goal into the path of Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian seemed certain to score only for Courtois to block with his trailing leg as he dived to his right.
Imagine the pulse of electricity at that moment had Anfield been full.
Liverpool appeared to do just that as they swarmed around Real and Courtois made his second superb save as he sprung high to his left to claw away a 20-yard shot from James Milner that was dipping under the crossbar. It could so easily, already, have been 2-0.
Liverpool had to maintain the tempo inside a still stadium and against a blanket defence and, driven on by 35-year-old Milner, who ran himself into the ground and piled into challenges, they tried to do just that. But they were also vulnerable and when Karim Benzema broke through on the left, stealing the ball away from an unsure Ozan Kabak, he cut inside and checked with his shot brushing off Kabak to beat Alisson and strike the base of the post.
That would have ended it. Instead a third and then a fourth good chance came and went for Liverpool with Georginio Wijnaldum turning sharply to beat Toni Kroos, clipping a pass to Mane, who found Salah inside the area only for his shot to sail over. But that was as nothing to a miss by Wijnaldum after Trent Alexander-arnold’s tenacity allowed him to lay the ball back. Ten yards out the midfielder had time and space but fired wildly over.
Real, through their experienced midfield of Kroos, Casemiro and Luka Modric, tried to slow things down, and to loosen Liverpool’s momentum. In the absence of their first-choice centre-halves Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane it was impressive from Eder Militao, who blocked and cleared. Real oozed experience and nous for this kind of intense occasion.
Still, just as with the start of the first-half Courtois was called into action early into the second period as he repelled Roberto Firmino’s powerful, angled drive – from Alexander-arnold’s clever pass with the outside of his boot – at his near post. That was clear chance number five, with a couple of lesser opportunities spurned by Firmino, who headed wide and shot over.
Klopp made his changes. On came Thiago Alcantara and Jota, to make it four forwards, and suddenly the clock was also an opponent. It meant Liverpool had to open up even more and a clearance downfield by makeshift right-back Federico Valverde left them vulnerable as Vinicius Junior latched on to the ball, heading forward and attempting to lift it past Alisson, who rushed out bravely to block and then grabbed the rebound before Benzema could claim it. The Real captain later headed into the turf and over when unmarked.
So, yes, Real had chances but there would be one last big one for Liverpool – after Eder denied Salah and Firmino and deflected Jota’s shot into the side-netting. It came in injury-time with Salah through on goal and Courtois stopping him again. To add frustration the ball bounced off Salah for a goal-kick. Salah stared at the heavens as teammate Andy Robertson howled in frustration. It summed up Liverpool’s season. And now they are out of the one competition they hoped could save it.
“That is ourselves this year with the finishing,” Klopp said. Sadly he was right.