Real Madrid vs Liverpool score, highlights and analysis as Karim Benzema seals cruise into quarterfinals

David Lynch

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Real Madrid vs Liverpool score, highlights and analysis as Karim Benzema seals cruise into quarterfinals image

Real Madrid cruised into the quarterfinals of the Champions League as they beat Liverpool 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu to win the last-16 tie 6-2 on aggregate.

Having done much of the hard work in handing out a come-from-behind thrashing in the first leg at Anfield, the 14-time winners did not need to be at their best in the return fixture.

But they impressed in largely managing Liverpool's threat, ensuring the visitors did not receive unnecessary encouragement in their bid for a comeback in the form of an opening goal.

And a mature second-leg performance was capped off late in the day when Karim Benzema tapped into an empty net from close range to send his side into the last eight in style.

Real Madrid vs Liverpool score

  1H 2H Final
Real Madrid 0 1 1
Liverpool 0 0 0

Goals:
RMA — Benzema — 78th min

No saving grace for Liverpool

While some Liverpool supporters dared talk of a comeback, it was obvious what their team's actual task in this particular game was.

That is, to restore some pride and perhaps finally get one over on Real Madrid, a club who have not suffered defeat at the hands of the Reds since 2009.

But that did not happen, with Benzema's late goal in fact condemning Klopp and company to yet another defeat at the hands of Spanish football's most successful club.

Now, rather than any optimism for future European campaigns, the only saving grace for this most forgettable of seasons can come in reaching the Premier League top four by May.

Midfield the difference over two legs

If Klopp is to make the lessons of this season count, then he must know that the one area that most needs his attention this summer is central midfield.

Not for the first time against Madrid in recent memory, Liverpool were utterly dominated in that area from the moment they went 2-0 up at Anfield.

There is no shame in falling short against Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, of course, but attempts to combat their brilliance with Fabinho and James Milner as a double-pivot felt a bit like turning up to a gun fight with a knife.

If the Reds are ever going to beat their rivals from Madrid, they really must come back with classier options in the middle of the park — and that is going to take some spending.

Are Real Madrid underrated?

Packed as it was with improbable comebacks, Real Madrid's run to last season's final win over Liverpool gave birth to the narrative that they are somehow blessed in the Champions League.

But attempts to put their success down to a love affair with this historic competition actually serve to play down their utter brilliance.

Across the two legs of this tie, Carlo Ancelotti's side rather ruthlessly underlined that results tend to go their way because, put simply, they are a fantastic football team who can hurt opponents in a variety of ways.

Their combination of controlled possession, lightning counters, set-piece creativity and long-distance threat gives them every chance of going all the way again.

Real Madrid vs Liverpool as it happened, highlights

Final: Real Madrid 1-0 Liverpool (6-2 agg)

FULLTIME: All over in the Spanish capital and Real Madrid ease into the quarter-finals of the Champions League again having taken Liverpool apart over two legs.

You wouldn't rule out a 15th success in this competition given the way they've played in this tie.

90th min: A late VAR check for a penalty after the ball strikes Kostas Tsimikas' arm in the box, but it has clearly cannoned up off the Greek defender's knee. 

That took a long time to reach what should have been a straightforward decision, you'd say.

86th min: Lucas Vazquez enters the fray, replacing Dani Carvajal.

78th min: GOAL! Real Madrid are going to round this tie off with another win!

Benzema gets the goal after Vinicius Jnr has the presence of mind to poke the ball across for his teammate to tap into an empty net after a deflection off Van Dijk.

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77th min: Liverpool work it brilliantly through the Real box but Elliott takes on an extra pass out to Robertson when he should shoot and Real get back in to block the cross.

Jurgen Klopp is furious with that decision from the youngster.

73rd min: James Milner heading off, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain his replacement.

71st min: Salah looks like he's isolated Nacho one-v-one from a Firmino pass but Rudiger and Camavinga emerge from nowhere to snuff out the danger.

That's excellent defending from the hosts, who are showing plenty of desire as they look to secure the clean sheet.

63rd min: Modric picks out a delicious left-footed cross into the centre of the Liverpool box but Valverde can't get over it and can only find the crowd with his header.

57th min: Two changes for Liverpool, with Harvey Elliott and Roberto Firmino replacing Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota.

54th min: A huge opportunity for the Reds to get their noses in front but Salah underhits a pass in a two-v-one situation and allows Rudiger to recover.

53rd min: Liverpool give it away in a dangerous area allowing Valverde to get in on goal, but he can't beat Alisson. How many times have we said that tonight?

The visitors living dangerously.

46th min: Back underway at the Santiago Bernabeu.

HALFTIME: The whistle sounds and it's goalless at the break in the Spanish capital. Real heading through in comfortable fashion as things stand.

45th min: Benzema's shot from the edge of the box is blocked as it is indicated that there will be two minutes of additional time at the end of this half.

42nd min: Real have really slowed things down since that flurry of Liverpool chances - as you'd expect from such an experienced side.

36th min: Liverpool really starting to get going now and Gakpo is the latest to test Courtois in the Real goal.

His powerful effort is kept at bay thanks to strong hands from the hosts' man between the sticks.

33rd min: Nunez cuts in off the left and hits a vicious curler but Courtois is equal to it, pulling off a wonderful full-stretch save to tip it around the post.

30th min: Robertson digs out a lobbed ball to the back stick but Salah can't get there and Real clear the danger.

A promising moment for Liverpool, who had otherwise been on the back foot for the last 15 minutes.

26th min: Vinicius Jnr gets in behind again and forces Alisson into a save with a low, toepoked effort.

The flag goes up straight afterwards but replays show that would have counted had the Brazilian found the back of the net. He was onside.

20th min: OFF THE BAR! Camavinga finds space at the edge of the Liverpool box to curl one goalward but Alisson gets a fingertip on it to tip it onto the woodwork.

Great effort, great stop.

14th min: What a save!

Vinicus Jnr looks all set to put Real Madrid 1-0 up as he meets a lofted ball at the back post just inches from goal.

However, Alisson somehow gets the strongest of arms up in time to force the effort up into the air before it is eventually cleared.

11th min: Toni Kroos collects a headed clearance at the edge of the box and lets fly but it's straight down Alisson's throat.

7th min: An overhit pass back to Rudiger puts the Real Madrid man in trouble against Mo Salah, who collects the ball and quickly feeds Darwin Nunez.

However, the Liverpool striker's low and powerful shot is saved by Thibaut Courtois and the hosts get it away.

3rd min: Benzema sneaks in behind and gets a shot away but it's followed by a needlessly delayed flag raise. The Frenchman was a long way offside.

1st min: Mohamed Salah gets the game started. 

5 mins from kickoff: Here come the players. Kickoff is moments away.

15 mins from kickoff: Klopp has been speaking to BT Sport: "The biggest thing we have to do tonight is defend Madrid, we cannot just attack and hope they don't score. We need a super performance."

Doesn't sound like Liverpool will go gung-ho - at the start, at least.

40 mins from kickoff: Liverpool's players having a sneak peek at a cathedral of European football.

1 hr from kickoff: Well, that is one seriously attacking lineup from Jurgen Klopp, with all four of his frontline forwards picked to start and just two central midfielders included.

As for Real Madrid, they are looking pretty much at full strength and so will surely fancy their chances of keeping this attack-minded visiting side at bay as well as getting a few goals of their own.

75 mins from kickoff: The team news is in!

2 hrs from kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of Real Madrid vs Liverpool in the last 16 of the Champions League. The hosts hold a healthy 5-2 aggregate lead coming into this one and will be confident they can reach the quarters without being caused too many problems by such an inconsistent opponent.

Real Madrid vs Liverpool lineups

French striker Karim Benzema returns to the fold for the second leg despite initial fears that he might miss out through injury.

Nacho Fernandez gets the nod at left-back, with Fede Valverde pushed into attack as Eduardo Camavinga starts in central midfield.

Real Madrid (4-3-3): Courtois (GK) — Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Nacho — Camavinga, Kroos, Modric — Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius Jr

Subs: Lunin, Vallejo, Hazard, Asensio, Odriozola, Lucas Vazquez, Tchouameni, Ceballos, Rodrygo, Mendy, Mariano, Alvaro

Liverpool's injury picture worsened this week as it emerged Jordan Henderson and Stefan Bajcetic would be unavailable for the match in Spain.

Consequently, Jurgen Klopp has selected just two orthodox midfielders in James Milner and Fabinho, with Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota forming a four-man attack.

Joe Gomez returned to training on Tuesday but is not likely to be rushed back into action, while Klopp is potentially struggling for options in midfield.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Alisson (GK) — Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson — Fabinho, Milner — Salah, Gakpo, Nunez — Jota

Subs: Adrian, Kelleher, Gomez, Keita, Firmino, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Elliott, Tsimikas, Carvalho, Matip, Williams

MORE: Champions League prize money breakdown 2022/2023

Real Madrid vs Liverpool start time

The match between Real Madrid and Liverpool will be played at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu and will kick off at 21:00 local time in Spain.

Here’s how that time translates in time zones across the world:

Real Madrid vs Liverpool date, time

  Date Kickoff time
USA Wed, Mar. 15 16:00 EDT
Canada Wed, Mar. 15 16:00 EDT
UK Wed, Mar. 15 20:00 GMT
Australia Thu, Mar. 16 07:00 AEDT
India Thu, Mar. 16 01:30 IST
Hong Kong Thu, Mar. 16 04:00 HKT
Malaysia Thu, Mar. 16 04:00 MYT
Singapore Thu, Mar. 16 04:00 SGT
New Zealand Thu, Mar. 16 09:00 NZDT

MORE: When is Champions League quarterfinal draw 2023?

Real Madrid vs Liverpool live stream, TV channel

The match will be streamed or televised by the following outlets around the world:

  TV channel Streaming
USA Univision, TUDN fuboTV, Paramount+, ViX+, TUDN app, Univision Now
Canada — DAZN
UK BT Sport 1 BT Sport app/site
Australia — Stan Sport
New Zealand — Spark Sport
India Sony TEN 2,3,4 Sony LIV, Jio TV
Hong Kong beIN Sports 3 beIN Sports Connect
Malaysia beIN Sports 3

beIN Sports Connect, sooka

Singapore beIN Sports 3 beIN Sports Connect, StarHub TV+

Australia: Fans can watch every match of the UEFA Champions League with all the action streaming ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport.

Canada: Every Champions League match in Canada can be streamed exclusively on DAZN. 

UK: The UEFA Champions League is carried by BT Sport's TV and streaming platforms.

USA: Fans in the USA can watch the Champions League in English (Paramount+) and Spanish (TV: Univision, TUDN and Streaming: ViX and ViX+).

All televised matches are streamed on fuboTV, which is available on a free trial for new users.

David Lynch

David Lynch Photo

David Lynch is a freelance football journalist primarily covering Liverpool FC. He has reported on the the Reds for over a decade for publications such as the Sunday Mirror and Evening Standard, carving out a reputation as a trusted voice on all things Anfield in the process. Having followed Liverpool across England and Europe over the course of his career, David has filed from illustrious venues such as Camp Nou, the Allianz Arena and the Estadio do Dragao, as well as from multiple Champions League finals.