• Madrid performs the exercise of authority of a king against Liverpool
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The phrase that ran through the vicinity of the Santiago Bernabeu yesterday was the same in all its corners: "Remember about Chelsea last year ...". " The Chelsea thing" was a victory for Real Madrid by 1-3 at Stamford Bridge and a 0-3 for the blues in the 75th minute of the second leg in Chamartín that left out the whites. A hell that still makes Concha Espina tremble today, just like the quarterfinals of 2017 against Juventus, which was 0-3 in Madrid after the Whites had won 0-3 in Turin; like the 2017 semi-finals against Atlético, capable of a 2-0 win at the Calderón after losing 3-0 at the Bernabéu; like Borussia Dortmund in the quarterfinals of 2014, which with a double from Reus went up to the scoreboard a 2-0 that put fear in the body of the merengue box after the 3-0 of the first leg ... Madrid, you know, is more about comebacks.

On the memory of those duels was born yesterday the second appointment of the tie between Carlo Ancelotti and Liverpool. A priori, a day that should be quiet after the historic 2-5 at Anfield Road, another Real Madrid fist on the table of the 'reds', defeated in the finals of Kiev 2017 and Paris 2022 and in the quarterfinals of 2021. In that context they arrived at the Madrid night, with the exteriors of the white coliseum far from matching the atmosphere of the three qualifiers of last season on the way to the final in Paris. And maybe there won't be anything like that again.

Klopp's staring

Already on the pitch, Jürgen Klopp, always wearing a cap, stepped on the grass of Chamartín with his hands in his pockets and his gaze lost in the stands. His players were already warming up just over half an hour before the start, but he didn't care. His head was looking for the tunnel of dressing rooms and the exit of the Madrid players. As always, the German was all the warm-up watching the players of the white team. He didn't take his eye off them. A mania that does not change to think about defeats.

In Madrid's 300th game in the modern Champions League (since 1992), Chamartín received his team with a tifo that read "on the good side of history", the phrase used by Courtois, goalkeeper of Atlético in Lisbon, when he won his first European Cup dressed in white. "I'm going to ask for copyright," the Belgian joked afterwards.

Ancelotti said in the previous one that for him in this match "the energy of the youth was as important as the experience". And he was consistent in his line-up: in his midfield Camavinga, Kroos and Modric were combined. "Kroos and Modric play because they deserve it, not because of their career," the Italian insisted after the clash. The Frenchman won the game to his compatriot Tchouaméni and was the squire of the two helms of Madrid in a first half in which the Whites did not speculate. On the contrary. They put rhythm and electricity instead of pause and were able to score several goals in front of Alisson's goal, vital to keep the tie at halftime. Courtois, of course, also had to appear. 4 shots from each team on goal, 4 saves from each goalkeeper and 0-0 at the intermission where Kroos shined, pristine in the direction.

Benzema, 77 in the Champions League: "I will be in the classic"

On the resumption, Ancelotti despaired asking his players to "Calm down!" as the duel broke, something that always thrills the Bernabeu, eager for goals in its fetish tournament. They failed against Alisson Benzema and Valverde, but Madrid maintained defensive composure with a giant Militao and with a Nacho who again earned the chants of "Stay!" for his defense of Salah, the great rival threat. The impotence of the Egyptian against the Spaniard was also that of Klopp, angry with the referee and admonished for protesting. They have lost 7 of the last 8 games against Madrid.

Benzema's goal, which equalled Ramos' 129 Champions League games (Casillas reached 150), was the sentence, the confirmation of Ancelotti's 33rd victory in Europe as coach of Madrid, equaling Del Bosque. The Frenchman accumulates 77 goals in white in the Champions League, three in this round. "It was a hard blow to the tibia, just a blow. I'll be in the classic on Sunday," Karim said of his injury. The last ten goals scored by the Madrid captain in the Champions League have been against English teams: 4 against Chelsea, 3 against City and 3 in this edition against Liverpool, his only goals in this continental course.

With this triumph against Liverpool, Madrid has emerged victorious in 19 of the last 22 qualifiers/finals in the Champions League, where since 2015-2016 only Ajax in the knockout stages of 2019, City in the knockout stages of 2020 and Chelsea in the semifinals of 2021 have been able to with him.

Courtois' criticism of Hernández Hernández

There was no surprise, not even a scare, and Madrid, cheered by a Bernabeu that sounded the You'll never walk alone as a thank you to Anfield's tribute to Amancio Amaro ("a very nice gesture", praised Klopp), will be in the draw for the quarterfinals tomorrow. "I want Milan in the final, not in the quarterfinals," joked Ancelotti, who admitted that "it's not football to whistle a penalty like that," over the hand at City-Leipzig. The Italian had a talk with Klopp before the match in which they valued the penalty whistled to Leipzig in Manchester. "I spoke to Klopp about it, that penalty has been crazy, be careful with this because it is not football to whistle a penalty like that in the Champions League, I think nobody has noticed, I think Guardiola had not realized that he had been awarded the penalty in favor. "

In the mixed zone, Courtois reminded Hernández Hernández, who was in VAR at City-Leipzig, of the penalty not whistled in the 2021 derby by a hand of Felipe. "It was a clearer hand that didn't whistle. I would like to ask him ...", said the Belgian, who confessed that in the dressing room they do not talk much about the 'Negreira Case': "We are away from that. We just hope that the referee who calls is honest. He can be wrong, but let him be honest."

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