Madrid Vs Liverpool: Vinicius's Brace And Asensio's Single Goal To Bring Los Blancos To Glory

Vinicius Junior (Twitter @realmadrid)

JAKARTA - Two goals scored by Vinicius Junior led Real Madrid to beat Liverpool 3-1 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at the Alfredo Stadium in Stefano, Madrid, Spain, Tuesday (Wednesday western Indonesia time).

Vinicius scored Real Madrid's first and third goals which were interspersed with goals from Marco Asensio and Mohamed Salah's reply for Liverpool, as noted by Antara on the official UEFA website.

✌️⚽ ¡Dos goles en dos partidos!@marcoasensio10 | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/4sNy90mi0x

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) April 6, 2021

This result is clearly a positive asset for Zinedine Zidane's team, which now only needs a draw when they travel to Anfield for next week's second leg.

Conversely, Liverpool must win by a score of 2-0 or more in the second leg if they want to turn things around and secure a semi-final ticket.

Even though there were only five players who appeared in the 2018 Champions League final, the shadow of defeat still seems to remain in the minds of the Liverpool squad who performed so badly throughout the first half.

The high defense line applied by Liverpool was exploited by Real Madrid players who repeatedly caused danger, even forcing Trent Alexander-Arnold et al to make mistakes in their own area.

In the 27th minute, Toni Kroos sends a low ball from the middle of the field which Vinicius can control while breaking away from Nathaniel Phillips and Alexander-Arnold before firing a neat finishing shot to outwit goalkeeper Alisson Becker and give Real Madrid the edge.

The poor side of Liverpool's game continued to be exploited by the hosts who in the 36th minute doubled their lead when Alexander-Arnold's header towards Alisson was cut off by Asensio who then cheated the ball past the mustached keeper before pitching it into the no man's goal.

Two goals down made Jurgen Klopp immediately make changes three minutes before halftime by pulling out Naby Keita and bringing in Thiago Alcantara, in order to improve Liverpool's performance which during the first half did not create any meaningful opportunities.

Liverpool started the second half better and was able to reduce the six-minute lag after further action through Salah.

Starting from the action of Diogo Jota breaking through the host's defense and his shot was blocked by Luka Modric, but the bouncing ball fell in front of Salah whose shot was unable to be stopped by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to change the position to 1-2.

Liverpool almost equalized in the 63rd minute, but this time Ferland Mendy managed to cut through Jota's tug of war before reaching Sadio Mane.

Two minutes later, Real Madrid was able to restore their two-goal lead taking advantage of a throw-in situation that was ended by Modric's lure which was snatched by Vinicius to beat Alisson at the near post.

Real Madrid created an opportunity to widen their lead in the 71st minute when Vinicius outwitted Phillips before sending in a through ball, unfortunately, Karim Benzema's finishing shot was saved by Alisson.

🏁 FP: @realmadrid 3-1 @LFC

⚽ @vinijr 27', 65', @marcoasensio10 36'; Salah 51'#Emirates | #UCL pic.twitter.com/33Kv8ijoXl

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) April 6, 2021

In a state of urgency to cut two goals down, Klopp made a double substitution in the 81st minute, bringing in Xherdan Shaqiri and Roberto Firmino, but Real Madrid answered with a rational move to predict the line of defense in order to keep the score 3-1 until the whistle sounded the game over.