The teams!

Liverpool enquired into signing Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund in 2023, before deciding they could not afford the overall package to sign him. Bellingham has been talking this week about that interest, and his eventual decision to join Madrid.

[Signing for Liverpool] probably wasn’t as close as a lot of the media made out. I had conversations with a few clubs when leaving Borussia Dortmund and making that decision. They gave me permission to speak to a few clubs. All the clubs I spoke to were very respectful of me and my family which was something I really respected. But when Real Madrid come knocking on the door it shakes the whole house. It’s hard not to accept. It’s not a matter the other teams weren’t good or were bad when I spoke to them, it’s just that Real Madrid are on a different level.

Guess who’s back. Back again.

With Vini Jr injured at Leganés, Mbappé switched to his preferred position on the left and the Frenchman will almost certainly occupy the same position this evening. Here’s Sid Lowe to explain a little more.

“If ever a game needed a moniker Clash of the Titans, this would be it,” emails krishnamoorthy. “Real have not been winning of late, it is difficult even to type this statement, which is absurd. The losing streak had to end and what better platform to perform than in the tournament that they own. But then we thought the same about City last night. Real is no City and Liverpool is certainly no Feynoord. I expect a 2-2 draw”.

I also think a score draw is a decent shout, although Madrid’s form and absentees mean Liverpool are favourites tonight.

It’s also worth noting that after the heavy back-to-back defeats against Barcelona and Milan, Madrid have significantly improved of late after Carlo Ancelotti made some changes. Following the 3-1 home defeat to Milan, the Italian announced “We have evaluated the situation with the players. We think we have found the solution. But we need to put that into practice. That is what we are hoping to do, to play differently.”

Since then, Madrid have won 4-0 and 3-0 in La Liga, against Osasuna and Leganés. Liverpool those teams are not, but the results are certainly encouraging.

Here, from the archives just before the 2022 Champions League final (won 1-0 by Madrid), is a more detailed history of the meeting of these two teams.

The last time Madrid travelled to Anfield was in February last year, when Madrid trounced Liverpool 5-2 in the round of 16, despite going 2-0 down. The injured Vini Jr and Karim Benzema, now departed to Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia of course, ran the show that night.

Preamble