Madrid: Real Madrid have been drawn with Liverpool in a clash of titans in the quarter finals of the UEFA Champion League this season with the first leg starting on Tuesday with the Los Blancos hosting the five-time winners of the title in Madrid.
This is the first meeting between these two European giants in the competition since the final of 2018 in Kiev where Zinedine Zidane’s side ran out the Reds 3-1 with a double strike from Gareth Bale and one from Karim Benzema lifting their third consecutive Champions League and 13th European title overall.
Liverpool, who won the title in 2019 are seeking a possible redemption. However, a hell lot of things have changed since that night of the final. So, let us go through those.
Transformation of the Liverpool squad
The ergonomics of Liverpool’s overall has changed quite drastically in the last couple of years. The most obvious one is the change of goalkeeper. Brazil’s Alisson Becker joined the club in the summer of 2018 before playing pivotal role in the Red’s journey to the champions league title a year later in 2019 with his modern day role of a sweeper-keeper propelling the side’s move’s especially when they go on the counters.
Trent Alexander-Arnold who also played in that 2018 final has now established himself as one of the best young prodigies in world football and will also be one of the creative hub despite playing as a full-back.
The arrival of Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich last summer along with Fabinho from Monaco the summer before helped Jurgen Klopp’s tactics a lot. The German manager usually prefers of what it’s called “heavy metal football’’ with players working hard in winning the ball and pressing up front to turn over possession. The Spaniard excels in that having way more defensive attributes for a highly creative midfielder which he showed during his time in Germany while the Brazilian midfielder Fabinho will act as traditional no. 6 in that holding boasted with superb range of passing and intelligent movement in either breaking downplays or start attacking moves.
The Absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale for Real Madrid
The two most noteworthy changes for Real Madrid since 2018 is the inspiring presence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
Ronaldo, the all-time top scorer for the Los Blancos moved to Juventus on a big deal after that last Champions League win and since Zidane’s side have unable to replace him. He was their man who always used to deliver the big occasion.It was wonder strike against his current side in Juventus in the semi-final in 2018 which inspired the side to the final. However,this time they will have find that kind of spark without the Portuguese maestro.
On the other hand,Bale who was adjudged the man of the match in the 2018 final, scoring a brace after coming off the bench with one of his strikes being a spectacular overhead kick has failed to keep his place in the Spanish side’s first XI and is currently enjoying his time on loan at his former side Tottenham Hotspur.
A not possible repeat of the Sergio Ramos – Mohamed Salah duel
Three years ago in Kiev, Mohamed Salah, who was having his breakthrough season for the Reds came across the Sergio Ramos in an intense with Egyptian causing real nuisance in the first few minutes. The Real Madrid skipper brought Salah down, causing an injury to the Liverpool front man before he was taken off the pitch. Well, its the tale of injury again as well but this time its Ramos who wont even make the starting XI, meaning there will be no sequel of the clash between these two superstars.
The Reliable presence of Keylar Navas between the Real Madrid posts
Kaylor Navas was an ever reliable presence between the posts during Real Madrid’s best time when won three consecutive Champions League title. A great shot stopper and a decision maker Navas replaced the club Legend Iker Casillas before quickly establishing himself as one of the best in his position. He had a great character and mentality making those crucial saves in the big games. He left for Paris Saint-Germain in 2019. Although, Real Madrid now have the service of Thibaut Courtois, the Belgian has somehow unable to fill in the shoes of the Costa Rican no.1.
