When Real Madrid welcome Liverpool to Santiago Bernabeu for the second leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie, Carlo Ancelotti’s side will be heavy favourites to go through into the next round of the competition. They won the first leg away at Anfield by a 5-2 scoreline, in a historic night of European football.
At the same time though, it would be e mistake to consider this tie done and dusted. One can never really count this Liverpool team out.
The biggest thing is, you never really know which version of them will show up. The one which lost 1-0 to Bournemouth at the weekend. Or the one that defeated an in-form Manchester United by a 7-0 scoreline.
Real Madrid must be prepared to face their best version though. And Eder Militao is very wary of the talent that Liverpool possess, especially going forward, like Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino. As reported by Liverpool Echo, the Brazilian defender said:
"“The night in Liverpool was one of the most historic in my sporting life — to win 5-2 there and score is a unique moment for any footballer.“But Liverpool have a super squad and now we do not want to be surprised at home. Mo Salah has come into a good moment in attack.“He is always dangerous and against us he is hyper-motivated, and also Roberto Firmino is scoring goals again. So until the end of this match, nothing has been decided.”"
Real Madrid player sends Salah and Firmino warning
Some years back, Liverpool turned around a 3-0 first leg deficit against Barcelona, winning 4-0 in the second leg to go through to the final of the UEFA Champions League, in one of the most historic nights in the competition’s history. The same scoreline will see them through this time around as well.
They have a much bigger mountain to climb on this occasion though. They do not have the support of the Anfield crown behind them this time around, as the second leg will played at Santiago Bernabeu.
On the other hand, with all due respect, this Liverpool team looks much weaker than the one that defeated Barcelona and ultimately went on to win the Champions League that season. So, while the tie might not be over, Real Madrid do have one leg in the quarter-finals.