REAL MADRID vs LIVERPOOL | Champions League Quarterfinal 1st Leg | 06.04.21 | 21:00 CET

If we're gonna win the 2nd leg, it will come down to how we deal with sustained pressure for 90 mins in midfield. Wijnaldum, Fabinho and Thiago are nothing to scoff at.

But our midfield is head and shoulders better. Modric, Kroos, and Casemiro are just majestic to watch when they're clicking. But we shouldn't expect that to be the case. I appreciated the 4-4-2 diamond formation that we used towards the end when Valverde was subbed on. It made a world of difference because we were under siege and needed a way to release some pressure.

I believe the gameplan will be as how Zidane always plans. Go to Anfield to score goals and put the game to bed. We can't let them pin us back for 90 minutes and expect to get a positive result, it's just asking too much. Even when we rep one of the most legendary midfields football has ever seen.

 

I really hope the team does not decide that they have it in the bag. Just look at Pool vs Barcelona from a couple of years ago. Then again, that was Barcelona, so it is expected for them to fall apart. Still, it will be super tough.

 

I also believe that they are cautious about exerting all that pressure and leaving gaps at the back, IMO, they came at us as per normal in this first game, but, everyone knows how they play now,

when we broke that intense press and created some chances using the space they left behind i think that gave them some pause, and that's why they were less gung ho about all bombing forward to press us, less coordinated,

it takes a lot of energy to press that much with that intensity that they normally show but it's doubly hard if you spend most of that time "without" the ball, just chasing, and that's what we did well, i expect more of the same if we play to our potential, and i expect us to score, hopefully we defend just as well as we did this first game

 

Agreed. A lot of people asking why Liverpool didn't press like usual - maybe it's because every time they tried to, especially in the beginning, we played our way out, switched the flank and it was a matter of time before we scored.

 

Yes, some people are behaving like we didn't play a part in them not being able to play their natural game, like it was all about them having a bad night, i am just hopeful we can do the same again in the return leg