Champions League Liveblog: Real Madrid v Liverpool!

The reason I like Madrid is they don't play boring football (Liverpool) but don't go down in flames in persuit of attractive football(Barcelona). They got where they are by instilling the grit mindset into their players, their hard working never say die attitude no matter what the odds are. Madrid has scored many goals in injury time because they don't know what defeat is. Although Liverpool are in a comfortable position right now and have a major advantage, I will never count Madrid out. They will scratch until the final second which I admire greatly, maybe even more than their wins. I'll still have respect if they go down fighting.

To be fair Cesar to be the Spanish NT you need more than 2 NT members. You need Iniesta and Xavi. Jk bro. Wish you the best in the next leg aka a win. And hope you loose againts Espanyol. ;-)

A win is a win, congratulations to the Livepool fans, but there's still 90 more min to be played, so enjoy it until we meet again at Anfield...

One thing we're missing with Sneijder's lack of form, and Ruben's heart condition (get well lad!!!) is a quality outside shot from outside the box, that could've beenn the diference yesterday, but instead, our players barely tried it yesterday...

Great discussion about results +ugly play vs. beautiful game + results; I for one would rather see a thrilling, back and forth 0-0, with lots of chances, than a meager 1-0 victory where the winning team was lucky enough to get a break; but when you're playing elimination rounds, I don't care as long as my team goes through..., sometimes this fixtures show what a team is made of, and if Real is really a contender for the title, we'll get trough..., I compare this bout against Liverpool with Spain's match against Italy at the Euros, where the Spaniards exorcised decades of frustration, against the team that always defeated them, so I'm hopeful Liverpool is our Italy (because they play the same, tactical, boring game), and Real is the Spanish team, trying to win and play well

Anyways, now on to Espanyol, take care everybody

I just want to be clear on one thing: I didn't say Liverpool played badly, or even that they didn't deserve to win. Their tactics were legitimate and their win is irrefutable. I just wanted to emphasize is that it's the principle of sacrificing any attempt to meet the opposition half way, resigning your entire game plan to defense with an occasional half-hearted counter attack, that I really hate to see succeed.

And Hector - to be fair, when we played Barcelona we were without at least half of our key players (Robben, Pepe, Heinze, De la Red, van Nistelrooy, Marcelo and Diarra), and our coach had been with us for less than a week. In that scenario, and going up against the most powerful team in the league (perhaps even the continent at that moment) you can understand why Madrid felt forced to play the defensive football they did. But as tomatutomate and myself pointed out, Liverpool was in no such dire situation. Yes, Steven Gerrard wasn't fully fit, and Torres ended up getting injured an hour into the match, but the Reds still had loads of talent at their disposal, and still opted for a very cynical game of football.

Liverpool do play very negative football but we knew that going to this game so ....
I honestly don't care how they play I just want us to go through and to do so by playing well as it has been case ( save the past 3 or so years ) throughout our entire history
All is not lost we can qualify with a 1 - 2 win

As hector pointed if we score on them early ( god please let us do so I promise ill start praying everyday ) then its on they'll be more adventurous and that's when we kill them

HAAAAAAALA MADRID!!!

Welcome to a Barca fan's world then Corey. That's exactly what happened to us the last few years. We kept trying to play beautiful offensive football even when injuries, out of form players, and personnel dictated we shouldn't and collapsed spectacularly. You gotta take the good with the bad in the real world application of ticki-taka and the good is not always there. Its cost before and will cost us again be it this year or in the future.

I'm gonna say, I view football the same way but after being numbed by these types of tactics over the last few years, I've accepted them as simply something else to overcome. It really is no excuse. Spain had to get through the Italian NT, the original master of catenaccio, and they still gritted their teeth and got through alive. Its another test in the road to greatness I guess. That's what makes us La Liga and Spanish NT fans, an idealistic lot that lately wins less than their European counterparts we are irrationally idealistic and demanding in our pursuit of the ART of football. Compare that with somebody who values results like the Brits apparently do. I'm proud of being an idealistic fool but at the same time am forced to recognize that there are other viable ways to win a game or a championship than beautiful flowing football. Just because they didn't keep possession or attack as much doesn't necessarily mean they played badly if defending and keeping a clean sheet was their intention all along.

BTW I don't want to seem like calling out anybody in particular because I'm not but remember when Juande played similar tactics against Barca at the Camp Nou and a lot of Madridistas (generally, I'm NOT pointing out somebody on this board) hailed it as a brilliant display of tactics that almost paid off and shrugged off the cules' complaint of a big team shamefully playing like a little team? Well, the foot is on the other foot now. That kinda gives you a perspective into a Liverpool fan's view. It pisses all of us off but being angry won't help us. RM will have a tough time scoring at the Kop unless significant adjustments are made. The key to playing Liverpool is to make them HAVE to be offensive (i.e. scoring first) because that's where they suck and open themselves up to the counter. They have so many draws at home to smaller teams because THEY park the bus and although Liverpool can park a mean bus, they have a harder time attacking another bus. That alternative is gone. You HAVE to score twice by kicking, clawing, and struggling and THEN force them out. I do wish all the La Liga teams luck.

Paulie- It seems only English fans demand results above all else. If my team won the Champions League with a bunch of 1-0 games, I would still be pretty happy that we wont the Champions League, but I was be pissed because it was so dull and I would certainly not support those tactics. I like to think that I dont just have a blind faith to a team, but I am more of a fan of football not just as a sport, but as an art. And what the EPL and sometimes Serie A teams play like in the CL is nothing more then garbage. Spain's triumph was the vindication of beautiful football, but it seems such a day for the Champions League is still far off. I can see Liverpool stubbornly defending their way to the final again of course, because they will come up against teams who would love the possession Liverpool yields to them only to be frustrated at every corner and hit against the run of play. Its a win, but its ugly. And unless Real plays better at Anfield, Real is more then guilty of the ugly, over cautious football as well. I would rather go down swinging.

In the words of Emiliano Zapata, it is better to die on your feet then live on your knees.

John you hit the nail on the head. The Euro 08 was beautiful precisely for that reason. I hope this year Barça wins the champions league. That is alsowjat I memy by a big team playing like a small one. Liverpool has the players to play great football but they prefer tone cynical and boring.

And can I say one more thing? With players like Xabi Alonso, Albert Riera, Ryan Babel, Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt - why the fuck COULDN'T Liverpool try to play for a win? It's one thing when you are clearly outmatched and don't have the talent to succeed, but with the skill set of the players listed above? C'mon.

Hey, we all (Liverpool fans aside) agree on one thing. One of the big reasons this last Euro Cup was so exciting was that we saw a reverse in trends. For once, negative play - defensive, 10 men behind the ball football - got clobbered. The teams that dominated - Spain, Netherlands, Russia - were playing attacking, open football, unlike the Champion's League before it, where defensive football took the prize. (Think Manchester United not bothering to achieve anything more than a quick Scholes crack off of a fluke pass to make it to the finals, and a final that you could fall asleep to. Even in the UEFA cup, one of the two teams in the final, thankfully the loser, got where they were only after doing nothing but defending goal for 220 minutes.) To see teams like Greece get clobbered for trying to do nothing but defend, teams like England not even make it to the main event, and teams like Italy finally punished for their negative play: it was awesome. Again: Netherlands, Spain, Russia. Germany won when they brought their attacking game. Lost in the final when they tried to park the bus. Just awesome.

So now to watch Liverpool win by trying not to lose, to watch Man Utd and Inter decide better than to play the game, it signifies that things might be back to business as usual. What makes us all worried, as fans of the game, is that the tournament might once again be only enjoyable for the victors, and the neutral observers will be better off just not bothering.

It might not be a bad idea to play catanaccio, and it can result in victory. But it's disappointing for all of us who enjoy to WATCH FOOTBALL to see it prevail. Because it's boring, cynical and ugly. On principle, if you're a fan of any team other than Liverpool, even if you DESPISE Real Madrid, you want to see Liverpool lose that game.

CBP, first of all congratulations, second I'm not even an EE fan so I hope that you guys don't mind my comments. I will always try to be respectfull. So CBP I hope I am not a lunatic for liking positive attractive football. Here lies our difference, to me there is much more than a win (except with Madrid) if we win but it was an awfull win I'm not happy. Same seems to be true for most Madrid fans. What is shameful to me is a big club playing like a small club, playing to tie or just not to loose. It's cowardly, I say. But if one looks at it from a mere results point of view, as it seems that you do, than it's brilliant. So yes the game was brilliant from that point of view. Specially if one remembers that this game is played in 180 min. From example re Barça v Lyon game. Am I happy? NO! Am I glad we got positive result yes. But I am not happy with the performance. I'm only happy when we win and win comfortably with good positive football. Anything short of that is unacceptable. To you,it seems that a win no matter how negative the play was, is fine.

Now Liverpool had some really good performances in regard to Mascherano and Xabi.

So again congratulations. And if you do win, I hope we get you next. If we win;-)

ok, first off liverpool deserved a draw and not a win.

But what really irritates me is the 2 comments before mine. Calling benitez's tactics boring is absolutely correct, but calling them shameful is a sign of lunacy. U guys have to understand that his job is to win and not to entertain the neutral fans. If that is what it takes to win, then dam right that is how he is going to play. If we had played open football, we probably would not have won this game. And he knows that. So why would he choose dangerous tactics? To make the game entertaining?

I applaud him, there is nothing to be ashamed of, to us winning is much more important than playing entertaining football.

So u can feel frustrated all u want by his "negative" tactics, but to call it shameful is truly obsurd.

This kind of game is why I prefer even the EE to win in champions league. Of sucks to have a team play to win and another play not to loose or to loose by the most minimal of margins. Madrd tried to win this game by were utterly incapable and benitez's boring tatics are shameful ( effective but shameful). But Juande did get a taste of his own medicine.the game reminded me of a recent clasico. It sucka to have a big team play like a small one. Well that's beside the point.

Cabezas en alto muchachos, el 0-2 en Anfield no we imposible, improbable, pero no imposible.

Visça el Barça.

I said both teams played poorly, but while Madrid is at home they never play for a 0-0 draw. Liverpool could very well play for a 0-0 draw yet again at Anfield, it is how shameless Benitez is with his tactics. One team can play negative football, which in turn means the other team is sort of stuck with alot of possession but not much to do with it. Liverpool defended very deep, hoofed balls up field, and played with a lone striker that got support four times by my count on counter attacks. The fact that Xabi Alonso rarely ventured out of his own half leads me to believe they were the worse team. We played poorly, thats for sure, but I would attribute alot of that to Liverpool's tactics. Juande must now reconsider the way he approaches these types of games, because he failed miserably to do anything with the Benitez Maginot Line.

we are missing ruben de la red.how i wish we had him right now ???he had been showing promise.its sad.finally a cantera product comes along who looks likely to make the cut for us and then he is struck by misfortune.

get well soon,ruben.

very dissapointing.
What was really apparent is the level of fear the team showed. I assume the pressure of doing well in the Champions League really hit them.
Have to give credit to Liverpool - they really killed our attacks.
What's also troubling is that alot of people judge teams by their champoions league performances - we haven't had a good one for a while now.

And before a row erupts, let me clarify that by that last statement, i just meant your team just didn't probe them enough to find out if you can open up the game. They were mostly comfortable in defense.

Corey, it might have not been pretty, but i think both teams are responsible for that. Liverpool came into the away match without Gerrard and it was pretty much expected that they wouldn't be going all out.

If one team had played solely for a 0-0 spending the ninety minutes only defending (a certain Euro08 game comes to mind), you could call that negative football. But in the end, they actually had more and better chances than you. If your guys had played a little better, maybe it wouldn't have seemed so negative.

hard luck guys. i am a cule from the barca offside page but i was rooting for you guys. i would rather have spanish teams go through especially over the despicable liverpool and besides i am fantasisiing about a barca-RM CL final

It certainly ain't pretty, I'll give you that. You're all dead-on about the very real threat of notching at least one at Anfield. Liverpool have looked more than vulnerable at home this year. Best case scenario--I'm hoping for a repeat of what unfolded against Arsenal in the quarters last year--early goals that force action...obviously though I want the result more than I want something pretty. Here's hoping for something above a flatline next match.

I'm with Corey on this one. It should have been 0-0. Benitez always does well in Europe precisely because he plays not to lose. Argh. Good thing I didn't gouge my eyeballs out watching Man U and Inter, because Liverpool always makes me want to, as well.

But I think they can be had at Anfield. They're going to park the bus, which gives opportunities to your lads for possession, and with possession comes goals.

Oh, you were right about us escaping Lyon with an extremely lucky 1-1 draw. As I noted in the match report, could have easily been 3-1. We're tired right now, on the down side of the see-saw that your lads were on early in the season. The Liga is going to be close. Good luck.

It was good tactics sure, but besides Real playing like absolute shit, Liverpool did very little to deserve an away goal. They mostly hoofed the ball clear of their area and scored on a set piece. That is what is most frustrating. If we played poorly and drew 0-0 then fine, it should have been on us, but I feel like Benitez offers nothing more then a more modern version of negative football, much like Mourinho does too. Tactically its a master class one would say, but aesthetically its awful to watch, and it makes some of his more talented players look like a bunch of pub player goons. Hopefully Real AND Liverpool will actually play a proper game at Anfield, because I can handle being beaten, I cant handle Real beating themselves and Liverpool clamming up and getting something completely off the run of play.

Why didn't VDV and Sneijder play? Because they aren't Dynamic enough or fast enough for this game, they'll take many shots out side the area that wont help us at all. we struggled to get into the box, it was a wise decision to go with Marcelo from the start.

I gotta admit. Benitez is not my favorite coach in the world, me being an irrational idealistic cule who cringes at the though of playing any less than 3 men up front and whose team usually loses to teams like his but DAMN, that was good tactics. The key was IMO Mascherano-Alonso, who, I've said before, are the best double pivot tandem in world club football. Lass and Gago are very good but none of the two have the ability to keep possession and control the tempo of a game like Alonso can. That's what RM still needs, a maestro a la Alonso or Xavi. Guti may be that guy but we know that his picture is next to both mercurial and inconsistent in the dictionary and he wasn't in form just yet. Still, Mascherano is the best defensive mid in the world at this point (again, IMO) and a guy that has the ability to almost single handedly wreck a midfield into a bloody mess, like RM's was today despite him not being a man mountain a la Viera or Toure. He's Gago's mentor in the NT and who knows if that got him a bit of an upper hand (although conversely Gago should also know him well). Still, they formed instant double teams with whatever FB or CB was at hand whenever a RM player got the ball near the Lverpool area. They seemed to be everywhere and their discipline was awesome.

I'm not one for tactical football but us Spanish football fans have to realize that there are other ways to dominate a midfield than tick-tack passing, and that's what Liverpool did today in the absence of Gerrard. Still, 1-0 isn't THAT bad but putting up 2 goals at the Kop without conceding is mighty damn hard. Good luck to you.

Boluda must be feeling pretty stupid now after he predicted that we were gonna beat the scouse 3 nil

Our players just looked lost out there the midfield was non existant the distance between them and the strikers was the size of el phenomeno's stomach we really got a lot to work on that is if they really wanna go through

*45mins, not 4

I think juande got the starting line-up right. the only reasonable idea would be guti for marcelo, but haz hardly played 4 mins in the last 2 months, and we saw his performacne from the 2nd half, so there was really no better player on the bench to change the game. snejider is now just useless, and we weren't even getting free kicks within 30m range. vdv is equally crap, with no pace to play on a wing. in the centre he is not influential enough, so playing gago alongside lass was a good decision imo. but for the crappy free kick and the conceded goal, which i think was just an individual mistake (or two actually), we would've got 0-0 before the 2nd leg, and that wouldn't be bad with liverpool most probably playing more openly then.
a really shitty result, but i'm not sure junade could've done anything more.

Very shitty match by both teams but Liverpool were good defending and grabbed their opportunity. No CAM for RM was a very crazy decision from Juande Ramos especially at home! Stupid. Guti got on in the 2nd half but was absolute shit as the rest of the squad. Robben got some negative remarks from others here on this blog but he was the most threatning of all RM players alongside Higuain. Everytime, Robben had the ball there were 4-5 liverpool players around him and only Higuain and sometimes Raul up front for support. WTF? Poor tactics this time from Juande. Even if Sneijder and VdV are crap on form but at least during the second half one of them should have entered for one of the DMC´s. It´s going to be really tough for RM now, but you have to believe.

Why didn't Van der Vaart and Sneijder play???

Well it´s never over till the fat lady stops singing blah blah blah, but tactically we were beat and it´s easy to criticize but you can only play with the pieces at your disposal, and I´m not even talking class of players here, as I think that aside from 3 of the Liverpool team, none of them are world class, I´m talking type of player. You look to the bench, what is there that you guys would have thrown on to make a difference to the bus Liverpool parked. I didn´t see Robben play once without 3 men on him, so where was the quality player to exploit that in another area? It always comes back to Mr Hair Gel again, I´m sick of harping on about him.

Nothing is predictable in football,pero qué negro lo veo!Do you think this will shatter their confidence in La Liga?

we were suffering from an identity crisis. man,what kind of football is punting the ball up the field and hoping someone gets an head or toe to one and scores. leave that for the english.

screwed up match. we need a playmaker.desperately so.plonk him in front of the double pivot.or in the middle of them.but whatever ,if we ever see this rugby-football hybrid on the bernabeu pitch by los blancos again,heads should roll.

If you call today's display pathetic then you would be flattering our players

This display almost had me crying no joke then I rememberd that I was watching the game with some friends who happen to be liverpool fans

To be honest with you gents I think that we're out I have no hopes for the return leg at anfield this was the perfect opportunity to beat them and badly too because they had no gerrard and torres was playing like adebayor
Now my mood is fucked up for the rest of the day

FUCK THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

A great result for Liverpool...but I don't know if you all have been following our home form in league this year...not the most encouraging. I anticipate a great match in two weeks' time. Competing live blog anyone?

Robben had a terrible match, liverpool already know him from his EPL days, what bothers me is that he doesn't adjust, sometimes a give and go can be more dangerous than trying to dribble your way into the penalty box...

Heinze, he is just terrible, he can't cover anyone, his long balls are a waste, just terrible

benitez proved he's one of the best tacticians of the game, the game plan he laid out was perfect, let's just hope we learn from our mistakes and improve for the second leg; I still think we can go through, but the team has to show more heart and ambition to do it...

Fuck man...this is real bad...losing at home is the worst thing that can happen...we r out again...

Thanks Jose! We still in it but its not gonna be easy now.

robben was irritating today. he slowed down 90% times he had the ball, not once exchanged 1 touch pass with ramos on the wing.
we had too little pace. and we still lack quality on the other wing, on the playmaker position and on the f*ucking left back

Coming as a Barca fan, you guys definitely have hope. Real has shown this season that they know how to adjust. This was just a bad game (that could have gone worse). I'll stop short of wishing you luck, but CHIN UP!

Just watched the goal again...our defending consists of standing and watching the ball go in.

The EPL is indeed a Premier League. Man U coming home to old trafford, chelski, liverpool, arsenal win

This just confirms we need a new LB. Also i think Guti did nothing since coming on and that maybe we should of left Marcelo on. He was at least getting in the game. And that whole long ball tactics killed us. We need to go all out in the second leg. I agree Corey dont bother with a preview of this game. This was pathetic!

After they scored, we completely gave up. There was plenty of time to at least equal, but they actually started playing even worse! Amazing!

we're out again...what a shitty performance all-around. Heinze sucked major ass, Ramos left his crossing ability in La Liga, Robben played the entire game with his head up his ass (seemingly unable to pass). That was painful to watch amigos.

heinze, damn idiot!

what a crapper, terrible game, def was shaky, mid was overrun, strikers didn't get the ball, terrible, terrible showing

I agree Corey, don't waste your time...

y r we not seeing da 2 subs yet????

What the fuck @the long balls ? Man im about to cry

No match review, this was to pathetic a match to waste my time writing about. Worst game of the season right here.

heinze is just TERRIBLE

There will be an answer, Stevie G

aight sergio, if liverpool is parking the bus (omg what a shock?!) try breaking in with short passes and quick dribbles not lanuching hopeful balloon into the box.

O man we're fucked

Well Ed, it's not about wether you deserve it or not, it's about scoring it, and your team did it

goal =D

no torres, no gerrard, this is just pathetic

Probably didn't deserve that goal...but I'll take it.

Pathetic

terrible

Eh ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

no one was marking benayoun

We really need to go for it now.

FUCK, FUCk, FUCK

idiot heinze

Shit. What was Heinze doing giving away a free kick over there

man, we need to attack on the ground, we're never gonna win with crosses to the box, their defenders are just to that, IT'S WHAT THEY DO IN THE EPL!!!

Raul is MIA...., just when he's most dangerous!!!

ramos really needs to improve on his crosses..

I don't have fingernails anymore, if this keeps going on, I'll have to start with my toenails, lol

WE NEED A GOAL, COME ON LADS!!!

that wasn't a foul on arbeloa...

fouls madrid 8 liverpool 12, enough said...

Liverpool is so ugly. Everytime they get the ball they punt it forward, its awful.

Tight game. We just dont seem to be getting that final ball right. This long ball has got to stop.

Juande needs to make a change. El Capitan looks a little lost, maybe best for Van der vaart to come in, or Sneijder. Who knows, they may come good all of the sudden?

Haha, Torres was garbage today, he should be booed.

Guti is dictating the tempo well, and I see a break through if we can get a decent ball to one of the strikers.

WTF, that was a foul, he shoved guti!!! AND in front of the ref!!!

man, this is definetely a chess match...,and for the moment, benitez has the advantage...

Better defensively, but we still need Raul and Higuain to hold the ball up better.