▲ Real, Liverpool 3-1 win ▲ Cross & Mod Reach, help earning ▲ The oldest record of 3 consecutive UCL games since Mod Reach and Giggs ▲ Cross, Pass Success Rate (91%) & Long Pass Success Rate 100% & Key Pass (4 times) 1st place ▲ Kasemiru, tackle (8 times) & shooting block (1 time) 1st place
[골닷컴] Reporter Kim Hyun-min = Three Real Madrid midfielders leading to Tony Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro dominated the match, leading to a 3-1 victory over Liverpool.
Real won 3-1 in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals for the 2020/21 season against Liverpool at the home of Alfredo di Stefano. Along with this, Real succeeded in capturing an advantage in advance to the semi-finals.
In fact, Real had a bad news ahead of Liverpool. After captain and key defender Sergio Ramos suffered a muscle injury, another leading defender Rafael Baran was self-contained as he tested positive for Corona 19. This forced Real to form a central defensive line with Nachos and Eder Millitang. Considering the fact that Dan Carbahal, a defender on the right side of the game from mid-February, had been disengaged from his power due to a long-term injury, three out of four defenders were made up of backup players.
However, there was a Joongwon composed of’Kkamo (Cross, Casemiru, Modrich)’, which is the pride of RealN’s team. Because of their endurance, Real was able to take the lead in the game by gaining an edge in the midfield fight.
In particular, the first half was a game that Real dominated. Throughout the first half, Real had a whopping nine shots, while Liverpool couldn’t even record a single shot. Liverpool’s expected score was zero while Real in the first half scored an expected goal of 1.58 goals (xG: Expected Goals, a statistic that calculates an expected score based on shooting points and circumstances). This was an inevitable result as there were no attempts at shooting. Even in the corner kick, Real lead 4-1.
Real increased the long pass ratio than usual, relieved Liverpool’s long-term, intense pressure, and launched an effective counterattack. In fact, prior to this match, Real’s long pass ratio was only 8.6% of all passes in the Champions League. Even by the Primera Liga standards, it was 9.9%. However, the ratio of Real’s long pass against Liverpool reached a whopping 15.5%.
The protagonist of the first half was the’football professor’ cross. Cross provided high-quality stretched passes to the front and played a role as a playmaker. In particular, he attacked Liverpool’s backstage by accurately delivering a sophisticated long pass to the attacking squad.
In the process, in the 26th minute, he made a fantastic long pass between Liverpool right-center defender Net Phillips and right flank defender Trent Alexander-Arnold. Real left flank attacker Vinisius, who received this through chest trapping, scored the first goal with a right-footed shot.
In the 36th minute, he attempted a roving pass to the back of the defending space again, and Arnold’s unreasonable attempt to clear it with a heading led to Real’s right-handed striker Marco Ascencio, which resulted in Real’s second goal. It means that both goals were scored on the cross pass.
After a complete defeat in the midfield fight from the start of the game, Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp subtracted Nabi Keita and replaced Thiago Alcantara before the end of the first half (42 minutes). This started to see some effect. Liverpool midfield also found stability when Thiago led the rear build-up based on a high pass success rate of 94.6%. In particular, it was Liverpool, where central midfielder Giorjinio Binaldum, who had been sluggish throughout the first half, gradually began to take the lead of the game by reducing the burden on the pass and actively pressing the cross.
In the process, Liverpool scored a goal in the sixth minute of the second half and went on a chase. Ace Mohamed Salah grabbed and scored a shot from defender Diogo Jota, who received a pass following Bynaldum’s surprise advance.
But Real didn’t step back easily. In the 19th minute of the second half, Modrić, who received a back pass from Benzema in a throw-in attack situation, moved from the side to the center, bypassing Fabinho, and connected the pass, which Vinisius scored with a non-stop shooting and scored 2 goals again. Went out.
In the 25th minute of the second half, Real took off from flank striker Ascencio and replaced central midfielder Federico Valverde in the defensive turbulence. Liverpool in a hurry began to intensify their offense by subtracting helm and defender Ozan Kabak with nine minutes left for the game, with forwarder Roberto Firminu and flank forward Sherdang Shaqiri, but it wasn’t enough to attack Real, which had already turned defensively. As it is, the match ended with Real’s 3-1 victory.
In this match, Kroos had the highest pass success rate of 91%, with 86 ball touches and 75 passes, the most among Real players. Even the long pass showed off his power of 100% success rate by attempting 9 reps. The number of chances making was also the highest with 4 times. It can be said that he has clearly proven why he is a premium playmaker.
Casemiro scored one shot block in addition to eight tackles the most among Real players. In addition, it exerted a high defensive influence by adding 1 interception and 1 clearing. It is not an exaggeration to say that Real was able to minimize the gaps of the main defenders because he was holding on.
Modrić, who had already helped in the first and second leg of the 16-finals against Atalanta, added assistance this time, and in 2011, after Manchester United’s legendary side midfielder Ryan Giggs (aged 37), helped 3 consecutive Champions League matches. He became one of the oldest players (age 35 and 209 days).
3-Real Madrid’s Luca Modric has become the oldest (35 years 209 days) player to have helped in three consecutive Champions League matches since then Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs (37) in 2011. vintage. https://twitter.com/OptaJoon/status/1379552755899985920/photo/1
— OptaJoon (@OptaJoon) Apr 7, 2021
Real achieved a great feat of losing three consecutive Champions League titles from the 2015/16 season to the 2017/18 season, based on the mid-wons of Kroos, Casemiro and Modrić. Of course, at that time, Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema were standing in the attack of Real, and there were luxurious players who were good at both the airborne, leading to Ramos, Baran, Marcelo, and Carbahal, centered on Ramos.
Compared to the three consecutive Champions League victories, there is no Ronaldo in the current Real, Marcelo has been aging out of the competition, and Ramos and Carbahal are having a difficult season with chronic injuries. However, Real can still be evaluated as a Champions League champion, as Kkamo, who has gone through the air battles in the prenatal field, is holding the center.
Real Madrid’s midfield maestros Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro are still pulling the strings | @petejenson https://twitter.com/MailSport/status/1379204725107781640/photo/1
— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) Apr 7, 2021