Real Madrid 1-0 Liverpool: Benzema proves decisive
PREDICTIONS of a rout proved to be well wide the mark as Liverpool’s weakened side produced a disciplined, if not ultimately successful performance at the Bernabeu.
Manager Brendan Rodgers’ gamble of leaving captain Steven Gerrard, vice-skipper Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling, among others, on the bench was considered bold by some and foolish by others.
Having been out-played at Anfield a fortnight ago in the 3-0 defeat, Rodgers felt it was prescient to hold back his key men for the weekend’s visit of unbeaten Premier League leaders Chelsea and made eight changes for what turned out to be a 1-0 loss.
Saturday’s match now becomes a must-win one, otherwise the Reds boss will expose himself to even more criticism but, in terms of this night, his second-string can probably claim a moral victory, having kept the damage below what the first-choice side did in the previous meeting, with Karim Benzema’s 26th-minute strike decisive.
In his pre-match comments, Rodgers rejected the assumption that his side’s Group B hopes – they are third but only three points behind Basel – rested on the final two matches against Ludogorets and the Swiss, but that is what it has boiled down to.
Getting their league campaign back on track is the priority, hence the controversial decision to rest his captain and other notable players.
Out of the 180 minutes Liverpool have now played at the Bernabeu, Gerrard has been involved for just 22, having been restricted to only two minutes as a substitute in 2009 because of a hamstring problem, after coming off the bench midway through the second half.
Considering the stage of his career, it is unlikely the midfielder will get another chance to grace this impressive ground again, and he was given a warm round of applause by all sides when he belatedly appeared.
From the off it took on the guise of attack v defence but, to be fair, Liverpool handled it well with Simon Mignolet denying James Rodriguez and Cristiano Ronaldo inside ten minutes.
The team’s compact structure was clear to see but, just like a fortnight ago at Anfield, the wind was taken out of their sails midway through the first half when Isco picked out Marcelo in space on the left and he curled a low cross to the far post where Benzema got behind Kolo Toure to slide home.
After the break the white tide eased slightly and Liverpool were offered the odd half-chance, with Adam Lallana firing across Iker Casillas and wide of the far post after Alberto Moreno’s through-ball, and Emre Can seeing a free-kick deflected behind.
Afterwards, Lallana, one of those players given the chance to shine while others were rested, said: “We’ve got quite a big squad and we were out there tonight to prove a point and I think we stood up. The main thing though is the result and we’re disappointed, even though we’ve come to the holders of the competition tonight.”
Real Madrid: Casillas, Arbeloa (Nacho 83), Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Rodriguez (Bale 62), Modric, Kroos, Isco, Benzema (Hernandez 87), Ronaldo. Subs not used: Navas, Pepe, Medran, Torro.
Liverpool: Mignolet, Moreno, Toure, Skrtel, Manquillo, Can (Coutinho 75), Lucas (Gerrard 69), Lallana, Allen, Markovic (Sterling 69), Borini. Subs not used: Brad Jones, Johnson, Henderson, Balotelli.