Liverpool’s phobia of Real Madrid continues. Can the Reds reverse their fortunes at the Bernabéu?

Liverpool’s least favourite opponent? Real Madrid. The Reds have lost 6 of their last 7 games against each other, including two Champions League finals, and were ridiculed in their own stadium a month ago. Can Liverpool shake this phobia?

Liverpool have a great history in Europe and if they lose the first game or half time it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s over. When you say turnaround in Europe, the Reds have their own category for it.

Overall, Liverpool have collected 6 Champions League titles, putting them in third place overall, only behind AC Milan (7) and… that’s the nut, Real Madrid (14).

Liverpool have virtually no opponent to fear… unless it’s named Real Madrid. The Spanish giant is already a phobia in the north-west of England.

Of their last seven games, Real Madrid have won six times and drawn once. The last time Liverpool beat their current opponents was in 2009.

Matches between the two teams

In the 2014/15 edition, the two teams met in the Champions League group stage, with Real winning 3: 0 and 1: 0 respectively. The following clash did not occur until the 2018 final, but Los Blancos celebrated a 3: 1 win.

Salah and all of Liverpool wanted revenge, so the two teams clashed in the 2020/21 edition in the quarter-finals. Real dominated the first leg again with a 3: 1 result and secured promotion with a goalless draw in the rematch.

Last season saw a repeat of the final after four years, with Mohamed Salah publicly declaring that it would be revenge for 2018, only to be left crying his eyes out again when Vinícius fired in a 1: 0 win.

The relatively frequent clash in recent years occurred again in the eighth final of the current edition, Liverpool hoping to finally get rid of their Real Madrid phobia. And all went well as the upstart Reds were 2: 0 up in the 14th minute and were the much better team.

But they eventually completely fell apart, conceding five goals and being ridiculed in their own stadium. Now they have a rematch to try and pull off a miracle.

They need to win 3-0 to take the game to extra time. It’s a superhuman task at the Santiago Bernabéu, where Champions League magic is ingrained.

In last year’s quarter-final, Chelsea needed the same result to progress and indeed led 3:0 with ten minutes to go, only for Modric’s fabulous dribble to conjure up a 1:3 reduction and Benzema to decide the game in extra time.

Liverpool are now one foot out of the Champions League, but miracles do happen in this competition. But won’t the defending champion and 14-time winner be in over his head?

Source: UEFA