Klopp needs ‘miracle’ in Champions League

Real Madrid x Liverpool will take place this Wednesday, the 15th, and promise to stir up the afternoon of Champions League. The match should be calm for the Spaniards, but it will be busy for Jurgen Klopp, who will need a ‘miracle’ to go to the quarterfinals of the competition. That’s because, the Reds will enter the field from 5 pm (Brasília time), at the Santiago Bernabéu, with the need to reverse an adverse score of 5 to 2.

Most experts consider Liverpool practically eliminated from the Champions League and, at the press conference last Tuesday, the 14th, Klopp did not hide that qualifying is almost impossible: “The problem is not what they can do, because we know how good they are, one of the best in the world. Let’s try, of course. We are alone, because it is normal to think what you think, that there is nothing to be done”.

Even so, the coach did not stop having hope, even if it is minimal. Jurgen Klopp highlighted what Liverpool did during the first half of the match against Real Madrid in the first leg and also highlighted that it is necessary to stop Vini Jr to reach the place in the round of 16: “You have to take care of your cons, but Vinicius cannot be controlled all the time. The big problem was his cons. Let’s try to do what we did in the first part“.

But what do Liverpool and Klopp need to do to stay in the Champions League?

• Reverse the adverse score from 5 to 2:

To advance in the Champions League, Liverpool has only one duty: to win by three or more goals difference to continue in Europe’s main club competition. To give you an idea, if the Reds made it 3-0 or managed a three-goal difference, the European derby will go into extra time. While, if they win by four or more goals, they will go straight to the quarterfinals.

• Stop Vinícius Jr and Benzema:

In addition to needing to reverse the negative score of 5 to 2, Klopp will have to find a way to stop the duo Benzema and Vinícius Jr that has been effective in the Champions League. In the first leg, for example, the Brazilian scored two goals and the Frenchman another. Vini Jr is going through a great phase in the 2022/23 season and still maintains the feat of never having lost to the English team.

• Beating Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu:

In addition to having to hold off Vinícius Jr, Benzema and head-on against a three-goal advantage, Liverpool will need to beat a Real Madrid that lost only once at the Santiago Bernabéu. Carlo Ancelotti’s team was undefeated at home until March 3, when they lost 1-0 to Barcelona in the King’s Cup. In the Champions League, in their domains, they won all three games and conceded only two goals in that period.