Rafa Benitez and Liverpool did it again in Europe.
The Reds stunned Real Madrid 1–0 in front of 85,000 fans at the Bernabeu in Madrid on Wednesday.
The Liverpool goal came from an unlikely source—a Yossi Benayoun header in the 82nd minute.
“He’s not the tallest [of players],” explained Liverpool manager Benitez in a post-match interview with Sky Sports. “[But] he’s very clever.”
Liverpool managed to stifle the high-flying team in white despite losing star striker Fernando Torres to an ankle injury after the hour mark and not using inspirational captain Steven Gerrard until the 88th minute.
It was a typical Liverpool Champions League performance. One could sense, the Reds would’ve been quite content with a draw and as such, the game began relatively quietly.
Liverpool waited for its opportunities and soaked up Real Madrid pressure. The longer the game remained scoreless, the more restless the Real Madrid fans felt and the more nervous their players became.
Dutch winger Arjen Robber was Real’s main threat. He created scoring opportunities by cutting in from the right wing and firing long blasts at the Liverpool goal.
The midfield featured a good battle between Real’s Fernando Gago and Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano. Both were guilty of bad fouls and received yellow cards for their efforts.
Xabi Alonso, who attempted to provide some creativity in Liverpool’s midfield, had a long blast from mid-field tipped over the bar by Real keeper Iker Casillas.
In the 82nd minute, Dirk Kuyt was pulled down by former Manchester United left back Gabriel Heinze and Liverpool was awarded with a free kick. Fabio Aurelio curled in a left-footer, which Benayoun headed in past Casillas.
With the away goal in the bank, Liverpool closed out the game and is in excellent shape for the re-match at Anfield on March 10.
“I was very pleased with the team defending,” continued Benitez. “They [Real Madrid] had a lot of confidence. We had to work very hard.”
Perhaps the only disappointment was the injury to Torres. ìHe twisted his ankle. You could see he was not fully fit,î said Benitez.
Ranieri Return
Former Chelsea manager and now Juventus boss Claudio Ranieri returned to Stamford Bridge and received a warm welcome from the Chelsea fans.
But the Blues were not so kind as Didier Drogba timed his run perfectly to take a Salomon Kalou pass and slot past Juve keeper Gigi Buffon in the 12th minute.
Juventus was the better team in the latter stages of the match, which was of concern to interim Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink.
“Let’s be honest. In the last period of the game, we suffered a lot,” said Hiddink.
“It’s very difficult to play them. Nevertheless, we should’ve controlled more.”
With the 1–0 win, Chelsea will travel to Turin for the return encounter on March 10.
In other Wednesday Champions League action, Villarreal and Panathinaikos drew 1–1 and Bayern Munich destroyed Sporting Lisbon in Lisbon 5–0.
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