Real Madrid: 4 takeaways from a 0-0 second leg draw with Liverpool

It was not the prettiest performance by any means, but all Real Madrid need to do was survive. All they needed to do was maintain their 3-1 aggregate advantage to go through to the semifinals. No mistakes. Nothing too complicated. Just competent defending.

Los Blancos did what they needed to do. The first half was frenetic, and Real were honestly lucky not to have conceded. And they could create very little themselves. Yet after watching how well they defended in the second half to hold onto a 0-0 draw, you can only conclude that Real Madrid 100 percent deserve to be Champions League semifinalists in 2020-2021.

Here are four takeaways from their second-leg performance against the Reds.

Massive from Eder Militao again

Nacho Fernandez was equally influential in the middle of the defense for Real Madrid, but we’ve already waxed poetic about the veteran center back frequently this season. It’s time to put the focus on Eder Militao, who needed to have a huge week with two matches against Liverpool and one against Barcelona in the absences of Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos.

Although there’s been talk that Zinedine Zidane does not fully trust Militao or that he could be transferred this summer, Militao has rubbished all of the rumors with three colossal defensive performances.

He was perfect in the second leg. Militao made no mistakes and thwarted so many attacks. He cleared, he calmly passed, and he put his body on the line. In total, per WhoScored.com, Militao made seven clearances and had two tackles. His future with Real Madrid should be locked in now.