UCL : Real Madrid Silence Reds At Anfield, Napoli Cruise To Victory

Posted by Samson Kankan Featured, Latest Headlines, Sports News Tuesday, February 21st, 2023

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Real Madrid came from behind to beat Liverpool 5-2 in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie, leaving the Reds winless in the last seven H2Hs between these European giants.

Just four minutes into proceedings, Darwin Núñez applied an audacious flick to Mohamed Salah’s ball to sensationally open the scoring as Liverpool got off to the perfect start. After a dominant opening that was reminiscent of seasons gone by for the Reds, Thibaut Courtois then gave Salah an absolute gift with a poor touch, and the Egyptian gratefully accepted it to draw level with Didier Drogba as the highest-scoring African in UCL history.

In stark contrast to his goalkeeper’s mistake, Vinícius Júnior replicated his quality from last season’s final to reduce Los Blancos’ deficit with a stunning strike that curled into the bottom corner. The Brazilian was gifted his second though, as Alisson’s attempted pass bounced off his compatriot and into the net in a match that was switching between the sublime and calamitous. Vinícius almost cut Liverpool open again with a ball to Rodrygo, although Andrew Robertson made an outstanding intervention to keep the score level going into the break.

However, it took just two second-half minutes for Los Blancos to be headed in front when Éder Militão was found in space by Luka Modrić’s pinpoint free-kick delivery, leaving a stunned Anfield the quietest it had been all evening. Having been the man to clumsily concede that free-kick, Joe Gomez then deflected Karim Benzema’s effort past Alisson a mere eight minutes later to completely flip the tie.

Meanwhile , Runaway Serie A leaders Napoli put one foot into their first-ever UEFA Champions League (UCL) quarter-final after a dominant 2-0 victory over 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt at Deutsche Bank Park.

No side scored more goals in the UCL group stage than Napoli and it was soon apparent why, as they completely took control of the contest and cut off the service to the Frankfurt front men. With HT approaching, Hirving Lozano struck the post before the Partenopei won a penalty as Aurelio Buta’s hack on Victor Osimhen was punished. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia saw his spot-kick saved by Kevin Trapp, but his blushes would be spared by his partner in crime – Victor Osimhen. Five minutes before the break, the Nigerian hitman timed his run to perfection to convert a pinpoint Lozano cross at the back post.

Relentless pressure from the Italian outfit continued after the restart, and only the heroics of Trapp were keeping the Eagles in the contest. He was proving Kvaratskhelia’s personal nemesis, rushing off his line to deny the Georgian the chance to double the lead. An increasingly difficult task was made even harder for Frankfurt on the hour mark, when Kolo Muani was sent off for a late lunge on André-Frank Zambo Anguissa – crucially ruling him out of the return leg in Naples.