Champions League - Liverpool v Real Madrid preview: Can Liverpool stop Ronaldo and Co?
Team news, manager quotes, facts and odds ahead of the Champions League clash between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
Liverpool will expect their noisy fans to recreate the special Anfield atmosphere that has helped them become kings of Europe five times when they take on Champions League winners Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
Brendan Rodgers's team, third in Group B with three points from two matches, have not yet shown the swagger that swept them to second place in the Premier League last season and they laboured to a 3-2 win at bottom club Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.
Liverpool, though, have won all three previous games against Real in Europe's elite competition and will be confident of giving the 10-times champions a run for their money in front of a typically raucous home crowd.
TEAM NEWS
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has a decision to make over striker Mario Balotelli for the visit of the European champions. The Italy international has been woefully out of form and has only one goal - against Champions League minnows Ludogorets - so is coming under increasing scrutiny. Fellow forward Daniel Sturridge is sidelined by a calf injury but left-back Alberto Moreno is expected to return after being rested at the weekend.
Real Madrid have confirmed they be without Gareth Bale and Sergio Ramos for their Champions League trip to Liverpool on Wednesday. Both players, who scored in last season’s 4-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final, have been left out of Carlo Ancelotti's squad due to injury. French internationals Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane, who missed Saturday's 5-0 thrashing of Levante due to a fever, have been included in the squad that arrived in England on Tuesday morning.
MANAGER QUOTES
Brendan Rodgers: "He's (Ronaldo) a player off the charts. His evolution in recent years, the way how he has become a goalscorer has been amazing. We need to know to stop him but there is danger in other parts of the field. You have (Luka) Modric, (Toni) Kroos - wonderful technicians who can play short, long. I'm also a big admirer of Sergio Ramos since his young days at Sevilla where he came through the system before making a move and then making over 100 caps for Spain. They have amazing talents all over the field and they have the technique to play in small spaces and when the space opens up there is no one better on the counter-attack in Ronaldo and Bale because they are two players that could be in the Olympic 100 metres final. And they are the reigning champions as well and they will want to defend their title."
Carlo Ancelotti: "He (Liverpool legend Bob Paisley) was a fantastic manager and to be sitting here in the stadium is a great honour for me. The atmosphere at this ground is always a little bit special, and the European history is exceptional. I think you will see a spectacular explosion of football on Wednesday night, everything that is good about the game. I find it incredible that I am being asked about injuries ahead of Saturday when we are here to focus on a game against Liverpool.”
MATCH BUZZ
MATCH FACTS
These two sides have met three times: in the final of the European Cup 1980-81 and in the last 16 of the Champions League 2008-09.
Liverpool have won all three meetings against Los Blancos, keeping three clean sheets in the process.
The Reds are the only team with a 100% win rate against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Real Madrid have failed to find the net against just two sides in the Champions League: Arsenal and Liverpool.
In the only game between these two sides played in Liverpool, the Reds won 4-0: that was also the last clash between these two European giants.
Los Merengues have faced English opposition 30 times so far in Europe (W11, D9, L10).
Liverpool have met Spanish sides 32 times in Europe, winning 14 of those games (D10, L8).
Liverpool’s last home defeat in European competition came in October 2012 (2-3 v Udinese); Since then, they have registered three wins and a draw at Anfield.
Los Blancos have won each of their last six games in Europe scoring 18 goals and conceding only three.
Real Madrid have found the net in 40 of their last 41 European games (112 goals in total, 2.73 per game on average).
Real have lost only one of their last seven away games in Europe (W5 D1).
If Cristiano Ronaldo scores two goals against Liverpool, he will join Raul as the Champions League joint top-scorer on 71 goals.
Ronaldo has scored more goals away from home than at home in the Champions League so far (35 away, 32 home, two neutral).
Ronaldo failed to score in five visits to Anfield as a Manchester United player, but did score in his final two appearances against Liverpool (both at Old Trafford).
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