CHAMP REAL MADRID BLITZES LIVERPOOL
While both Real Madrid and Liverpool are rightly considered Champions League royalty, there can only be one king.
Real Madrid 5, Liverpool 2
Down by two goals after 14 minutes at Anfield, defending champion Madrid came back to win 5-2 on Tuesday and take a commanding lead into the second leg of the round of 16 matchup.
Vinicius Jr. and Karim Benzema scored two goals each to stun the hosts — Liverpool conceded four goals in a home European match for the first time — and confirm the Spanish giant will take some stopping in its defense of the trophy.
“We played with personality, we produced goals. We want this Champions League again,” Benzema said. “And that produced a match which was lovely to play in and for those who were watching.”
If anything, this Madrid team looks more complete than the one that beat Jurgen Klopp’s team in last year’s Paris final. Yet this win echoed the memorable comebacks that led to that record-extending 14th Champions League title.
There was the chaotic defending that allowed Liverpool to race into a 2-0 lead as Darwin Nuñez struck with a backheel in the fourth minute and Mohamed Salah doubled the advantage
thanks to Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois’ blunder.
Then came the rousing fightback, led by one of European soccer’s emerging stars in Vinicius and sealed by an aging icon in Benzema.
Eder Militao was also on the scoresheet when he headed Madrid into a 3-2 lead just after halftime.
The 22-year-old Vinicius became the youngest player to score two goals against Liverpool at Anfield since Johan Cruyff for Ajax in 1966 when the Dutch great was 19.
The Brazil international is establishing himself as
Madrid’s star player and, in the face of a typically daunting Anfield atmosphere, he rose to the occasion.
“Vinicius right now in my opinion is the most decisive player in world football, the man who can make the biggest difference and if he can keep this consistency let’s hope he can continue in this vein,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
Napoli 2, Eintracht Frankfurt 0: Victor Osimhen scored again to help Napoli to a 2-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
Osimhen scored his 10th
goal in his last eight appearances across all competitions. The Nigeria forward opened the scoring in the 40th minute after teammate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a penalty saved by Frankfurt captain Kevin Trapp.
Man City without two
Kevin De Bruyne and Aymeric Laporte will miss Manchester City’s game at Leipzig in the Champions League today because of illness.
Neither were present at City’s open training session Tuesday and they did not travel to Germany for the round-of-16 first-leg
matchup.
They reported felling ill after playing in Saturday’s game at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Notable
Major League Soccer is expanding its playoffs to include the nine top finishers from each of its two conferences, or 62 percent of the league’s teams.
An opening “wild-card” round will feature matches between the eighth- and ninth-seeded teams in each conference at the stadium of the higher seed. The first round of matches will be a best-of-three series.
The conference semifinals, finals and MLS Cup championship will all be single games, hosted by the higher seed.
• Midfielder Tyler Boyd
signed a one-year contract with the LA Galaxy. This will be Boyd’s first time in Major League Soccer after playing in New Zealand, Portugal and Turkey. He had two goals and one assist in 10 appearances for the U.S. from 2016-19.
• Spanish coach Javi Gracia has gotten a second chance to manage in the Premier League. He has been hired by Leeds as the replacement for Jesse Marsch
at the relegation-threatened team.
The 52-year-old Gracia previously had a spell at Watford from 2018-19.
The club has dropped into the relegation zone since then and is currently in next-to-last place.
• Chelsea says captain
Cesar Azpilicueta has been discharged from the hospital and is “recovering well” after being kicked in the head during an English Premier League game.
• The body of Hatayspor Sporting Director Taner Savut has been recovered, the Turkish soccer club said Tuesday, more than two weeks after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Turkey and neighboring Syria.
• A Spanish court denied
Dani Alves’ appeal to be freed on bail while the investigation of a sexual assault accusation against the Brazilian soccer player continues.