The 5th day of the Champions League group stage ended this Wednesday with a clash at the top between competition leader Liverpool and defending champion Real Madrid, provisionally in 21st place. At home, the Reds opted for a 4-3-3 with Caoimhín Kelleher in goal behind Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson. Placed as sentry, Ryan Gravenberch was accompanied by Curtis Jones and Alexis Mac Allister. Alone up front, Darwin Nunez could count on Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz on the wings. For their part, the Merengues relied on a 4-3-3 where Thibaut Courtois officiated as the last defense with Federico Valverde, Raul Asencio, Antonio Rüdiger and Ferland Mendy in front of him. The midfield was occupied by Luka Modric, Eduardo Camavinga and Jude Bellingham. Finally, Kylian Mbappé was supported by Arda Güler and Brahim Diaz in front. And the match got off to a good start with a deep ball slipped to the left from Brahim Diaz for Kylian Mbappé, but the French striker impaled himself on Ibrahima Konaté (2nd).
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General classification UEFA Champions League
In the process, Liverpool responded immediately to a loss of the ball from Kylian Mbappé. Mohamed Salah accelerated down the right and found Darwin Nunez in the area whose shot was repelled by Thibaut Courtois. Raul Asencio was close to scoring against his side by deflecting the ball, but narrowly cleared on his line (4th). An error avoided which gave wings to the young defender and that was good since Liverpool were pushing hard. On the left, Andy Robertson slipped the ball between the legs of Federico Valverde for Luis Diaz in the area. The Colombian fired a shot which was narrowly blocked by Raul Asencio (10th). The Spanish defender would intervene again as Mohamed Salah launched Darwin Nunez in the right lane, beating him to clear the lineout (20th). And when it wasn’t him, Thibaut Courtois stood out. Luis Diaz played Ferland Mendy and served Darwin Nunez alone in front of goal. Quickly out of his cages, the Real Madrid goalkeeper narrowly won (23rd).
Mbappé missed the opportunity to revive the Merengues
Liverpool had a high-quality first half hour, but couldn’t get the last move right. Kylian Mbappé thought he could make the difference after a sprint on the left, but Conor Bradley showed him that he was capable of containing him and that his starting in place of Trent Alexander-Arnold was not surprising (33rd). Continuously, Alexis Mac Allister threw Darwin Nunez deep, but his header escaped the frame on the left and Luis Diaz could not intervene (34th). The Colombian caught himself with a volley a few seconds later, but Thibaut Courtois was impeccable (35th). Finally, despite a few new skirmishes from Liverpool, it was with a goalless draw that the two teams returned to the locker room. After the break, the Reds started strongly. On the right, Curtis Jones played Kylian Mbappé before taking his chance, but his shot was blocked (48th). Liverpool pushed to force their destiny and with a sublime opening towards the right of the area, Alexis Mac Allister found the head of Conor Bradley who found Thibaut Courtois on the trajectory (51st). On an excellent evening, the Belgian goalkeeper delayed the inevitable, but would end up breaking down.
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Full axis in front of the surface, Alexis Mac Allister relied on an excellent Conor Bradley before adjusting the Madrid goalkeeper to the left of the goal (1-0, 52nd). The Argentine midfielder was very close to scoring a double in a similar situation a few seconds later, but his shot went to the right of the frame (54th). Terrible, Madrid’s evening was going to get worse with the exit due to injury of Eduardo Camavinga (56th). Worse, Kylian Mbappé would miss a penalty after his shot to the right of the goal which was repelled by Caoimhín Kelleher (61st). A real blow to the head of the Merengues which gave energy to Liverpool who in turn obtained a penalty. But here too, the gesture was missed and Mohamed Salah’s shot missed the target by passing to the left of Thibaut Courtois’s goals (70th). Still alive, but still dominated, Real Madrid would finally crack just afterwards following a corner. Andy Robertson curled a cross on the right towards the near post where Cody Gakpo would finish with a header (2-0, 77th). A new blow to the head of Real Madrid who were not going to be able to put in the ingredients to come back. Worse, Luis Diaz was close to registering a third pawn (90th +1). With this 2-0 advantage which they kept until the end, the Liverpool players consolidated their first place with 15 points out of 15 possible. For its part, Real Madrid is in 24th place and finds itself in danger in the race for qualification.
Pub. the 27/11/2024 22:52
– UPDATE 27/11/2024 23:26
