Real Madrid Held Reds 0-0 At Anfield To Set Up Champions League Semi-Final With Chelsea

Real Madrid are on their way to the 2020/21 Champions League semi finals thanks to a 0-0 draw with Liverpool in their quarter final second leg on Wednesday night at Anfield.

Los Blancos withstood any and all pressure from the Reds thanks to some top goalkeeping from Thibaut Courtois and strong defending from centre-backs Nacho and Eder Militao to book their place in the tournament’s final four with a 3-1 victory on aggregate.

With his side suffering from a slew of injuries and absences, Zinedine Zidane had to do some reshuffling in defence, so Fede Valverde was picked over Alvaro Odriozola to start at right-back, joining Militao, Nacho and Ferland Mendy on the back-line. Meanwhile, up top in attack Marcos Asensio was back in the mix alongside of Vinicius and Karim Benzema.

Liverpool came storming out of the gates, winning every 50-50 ball and Mohamed Salah almost provided a massive lift in the early minutes, but was denied by Courtois from inside the area. Later on, the big Belgian had to recure his side with another big save, this time swatting away a curling effort from James Milner.

Madrid soon enough found their footing and a sensational solo effort from Benzema ended with the Frenchman cleverly sending a shot goalward that hit the post and bounced put.

Los Blancos settled in thanks to the steady presence of Luka Modric in midfield, but the Reds were still a threat when they surged forward and with some better finishing, either Salah or Gini Wijnaldum could have cut into the aggregate deficit.

Just like in the first half, Liverpool came out of the dressing room and strong fashion and Courtois had to be alert to block a Roberto Firmino shot with his legs.

But similar to the first 45 minutes, Madrid sustained Liverpool’s pressure and almost hit Liverpool with a goal through Vinicius off a Fede Valverde long ball, but Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson came off his line to clear.

Zidane went to his bench for the final 20-25 minutes, with Rodrygo and Odriozola on for Toni Kroos and Vinicius, respectively.

In normal circumstances, closing out a Champions League quarter-final at Anfield even with a two-goal cushion would have been difficult, but Madrid took advantage of the lack of supporters and nearly scored a goal to put the nail in the Liverpool coffin, but Benzema could not land his header on target.

Nevertheless, outside of a stoppage time chance for Salah, Zidane’s men made sure there was no late drama, with Isco on for Asensio to see out the match in clinical fashion.

Match Sheet:

0.- Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Kabak (Jota, min. 60), Phillips, Robertson; Fabinho, Milner (Thiago, min. 60), Wijnaldum; Salah, Mane (Oxlade-Chamberlain, min. 82), Firmino (Shaqiri, min. 82).

0.- Real Madrid: Courtois; Valverde, Militao, Nacho, Mendy; Casemiro, Kroos (Odriozola, min. 72), Modric; Asensio (Isco, min. 82), Vinicius (Rodrygo, min. 72), Benzema.

Goals: None

Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands). Yellow cards: Casemiro (Min. 25) for Real Madrid, Robertson (min. 26) for Liverpool, Phillips (Min. 59) for Liverpool

Red cards: None

Stadium: Anfield

Attendance: 0