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Writer's pictureEmmanuel Mendez

Champions League Round of 16: Madrid and Napoli Domination!


It was an incredible European night of football for Real Madrid and Napoli. Real Madrid, away at Anfield, managed to make a remarkable comeback against Liverpool, while the men from Naples also won away from home against a weak Frankfurt side. Both sides look closer to advancing to the quarter-finals after these fantastic performances.


Liverpool 2-5 Real Madrid

At the start of the game at Anfield, Liverpool looked like the team from last season and the years before. The Liverpool players brought intensity along with the Anfield crowd, and in the fourth minute, Darwin Nunez scored with a brilliant flick past Thibaut Courtois. Liverpool was energetic, and Madrid was struggling to get past their half.


Ten minutes later, Anfield witnessed one of the worst goalkeeping mistakes in a Champions League game. Courtois miss controls the ball, and Mohammed Salah had to push the ball past the Belgian keeper. It was 2-0 in under just minutes, and Liverpool was in a good position to kill the game early.


But before Liverpool can get comfortable with the 2-0 lead, Vinicius Jr produced a great shot from a long distance to score the 2-1. The first shot on target for Los Blancos and Vinicius's goal changed the game completely.


Courtois` error wasn't the only goalkeeping mistake of the game because in the 36th minute, Alisson kicked the ball toward Vinicius, and the ball bounced into the net for the Madrid equalizer.


A howler from both keepers made the score 2-2 at halftime. Liverpool was in control earlier in the first half, but Madrid picked up momentum after the equalizer.


That momentum continued into the second half as in the first two minutes, Madrid completed the comeback with a Militao header. A free kick close to the box was enough for Modric to find an unmarked Militao in the box. It wasn't very good defending by the Reds.



The massacre continued 8 minutes later as Benzema shot toward the goal and went in because of a Joe Gomez deflection. It was 4-2 in under an hour played of football. It wasn't the last since Benzema scored a brace 12 minutes later.


Tremendous pressure by Luka Modric led to an effective counterattack move by Real Madrid. Vini gave a pass to Benzema, who pretended to shoot at first but got past Alisson and slotted the ball in with his left foot. It was 5-2 to Real Madrid away from home and has a 3-goal advantage heading to the second leg.


After the fifth Madrid goal, Liverpool tried some more chances but couldn't create any clear opportunities. Madrid was ready to make some more counterattacks, but the final whistle came and ended 5-2 in favor of the Spanish giants.


Liverpool had nine shots in total, with 5 of them on target. Real Madrid had nine shots, and six were on target. Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool Manager) post-match: "If we now allow this one game to be influential, we are really silly. We have a few days where we'll make sure we take the right things out of this game."


Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid Manager) post-match: "Real Madrid favorite to win the Champions League? I don't know. We still have to play at the Bernabéu. Liverpool is a great team and we will suffer."


The second leg at the Bernabeu will be played on March 15th at 4:00 pm EST time.


That momentum continued into the second half as in the first two minutes, Madrid completed the comeback with a Militao header. A free kick close to the box was enough for Modric to find an unmarked Militao in the box. It wasn't very good defending by the Reds.


The massacre continued 8 minutes later as Benzema shot toward the goal and went in because of a Joe Gomez deflection. It was 4-2 in under an hour played of football. It wasn't the last since Benzema scored a brace 12 minutes later.


Tremendous pressure by Luka Modric led to an effective counterattack move by Real Madrid. Vini gave a pass to Benzema, who pretended to shoot at first but got past Alisson and slotted the ball in with his left foot. It was 5-2 to Real Madrid away from home and has a 3-goal advantage heading to the second leg.



After the fifth Madrid goal, Liverpool tried some more chances but couldn't create any clear opportunities. Madrid was ready to make some more counterattacks, but the final whistle came and ended 5-2 in favor of the Spanish giants.


Liverpool had nine shots in total, with 5 of them on target. Real Madrid had nine shots, and six were on target. Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool Manager) post-match: "If we now allow this one game to be influential, we are really silly. We have a few days where we'll make sure we take the right things out of this game."


Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid Manager) post-match: "Real Madrid favorite to win the Champions League? I don't know. We still have to play at the Bernabéu. Liverpool is a great team and we will suffer."


The second leg at the Bernabeu will be played on March 15th at 4:00 pm EST time.


Napoli defeats Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0

The Europa League champions looked fired up for this game along with their fans in the first ten minutes until Napoli started playing like their usual selves this season. The Italian league leader kept the pressure on with their crazy pacey attackers. Hirving Lozano was electric at the Deutsche Bank Park and almost scored by hitting the post in the 34th minute

.

The inform Oshimen receives a wild kick by Aurelio Buta, and a penalty is called. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia steps up but has his penalty saved by Kevin Trapp.

Frankfurt got away with that save but not with a Lozano and Oshimen combination a few minutes later. Lozano runs from the right and passes a great ball toward the Nigerian striker, who pushes it in.


The inform Italian team continues to show the European teams how much of a threat their attacking players are. Napoli was leading 1-0, and deservedly so. In the second half, most was the same as Napoli continued to attack the Germans.


It kept getting better for Napoli as Kolo Muani missed control of the ball and stepped on Anguissa. Muani received a red card, and Frankfurt was stuck with ten men on the pitch.


Seven minutes later, Kvaratskhelia makes a great run, backheels it to captain Di Lorenzo, and gets pushed into the bottom left corner. It was 2-0 Napoli away from home and aren't threatened by Frankfurt.




Napoli sealed the game with those two goals, and Frankfurt couldn't create chances. Napoli wins the game and will host the Germans at the Maradona stadium in three weeks. Napoli's sensational season continues, and they are looking to confirm their ticket into the quarter-finals of the Champions League. And who knows, a deep run for the Italians is in the cards.


Oliver Glasner (Frankfurt Manager) post-match: "We are not going to go to the Maradona stadium as tourists; we will not wave the white flag."


Luciano Spaletti (Napoli Manager) post-match: "I am happy, even if I don't smile. The team played a great game; they told us that perhaps we play the best football in Italy because, in Italy, the football is bad."


The second leg at the Maradona Stadium will be played on March 15th at 4 pm EST.



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