Liverpool will need nothing less than a miracle from above in their quest to go through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League as they meet Real Madrid tonight.

Liverpool suffered a totally humiliating 5-2 defeat to Madrid in the first leg of their round of 16 tie at Anfield three weeks ago and now need to win by a three-goal margin to take the game to extra-time.

The Reds have, meanwhile, been producing wildly erratic performances with last weekend’s 1-0 Premier League defeat at relegation-threatened Bournemouth following an historic 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool did come from three goals down against Barcelona to win 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-final when they won the Champions League during the 2018/19 season but that was at Anfield.

Madrid are, however, unbeaten at the Bernabeu in either the La Liga or the Champions League this season with a record of 11 wins and four draws from 15 games, scoring 35 goals while never conceding more than once.

Liverpool have also failed to win any of their last seven meetings with Madrid since a 4-0 last-16 second leg win at Anfield in 2009, losing six and drawing once with Los Blancos since.

Madrid became the first visiting team to score five goals in a European fixture at Anfield last month and they have progressed from 26 of their 27 European Cup/Champions League ties when winning on the road in the first leg.

The concern for the Reds’ supporters will be that most of their bad days have come on the road and now, they face a trip to Madrid’s fortress, having already been outclassed by the La Liga champions at their usual sanctuary of Anfield.

And more bad news for Liverpool is that no team has ever come back from a three-goal defeat in the home leg of a Champions League tie to qualify with only Manchester United in 2018-19 managing to turn around even a two-goal deficit.

So, as things stand, Liverpool will need a divine intervention to qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals at the expense of Madrid with the Merseyside outfit also out to avoid their worst-ever aggregate defeat in Europe. (The Guardian)

•PHOTO: Real Madrid players celebrate one of their goals at Anfield. They will be seeking to beat Liverpool at the Santiago Bernabeu and advance to the Champions League quarterfinals. Photo: AFP.

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