It will likely be Liverpool needing to do one thing magical on the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Wednesday to reverse a 5-2 loss from the primary leg within the spherical of 16.

It positively gained’t be simple — no away crew has ever erased a three-goal loss from the primary leg within the Champions League. Only 5 occasions the crew that misplaced at residence rallied within the second leg, with Manchester United the one one to beat a two-goal deficit in a round-of-16 matchup in opposition to Paris Saint-Germain in 2019.

Liverpool did handle an enormous comeback at residence within the 2019 semifinals, rallying in opposition to one other Spanish membership, Barcelona. It had misplaced 3-0 on the Camp Nou earlier than pulling off a 4-0 win within the second leg at residence to maintain alive a run that finally ended with the crew profitable the trophy. Only three different groups overcame a deficit of three or extra targets — Barcelona, Roma and Deportivo La Coruña.

“We need to go and do something special,” Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold mentioned. “It’s about throwing the kitchen sink at it and going all out.” Madrid, which beat Liverpool in final season’s remaining for a record-extending 14th European title, pulled off thrilling comebacks on its strategy to that remaining, rallying from behind in opposition to PSG within the spherical of 16, Chelsea within the quarterfinals and Manchester City within the semifinals.

Madrid additionally rallied in opposition to Liverpool within the first leg this season after taking place 2-0 within the first half in England, finally constructing its snug three-goal benefit with two targets every by Vinícius Júnior and Karim Benzema. Éder Militão additionally scored for Madrid at Anfield.

The solely time Madrid didn’t advance within the Champions League after profitable the primary leg on the street was in 2019 when it was eradicated by Ajax within the spherical of 16.

Madrid has gained six of its final seven matches in opposition to Liverpool within the Champions League, drawing the opposite one.

The crew coached by Carlo Ancelotti ended a three-match winless run with a 3-1 victory over Espanyol on the Bernabéu within the Spanish league on Saturday. The coach is anticipated to have Ferland Mendy and Benzema obtainable after recovering from accidents.

Liverpool took one other hit to its confidence with a 1-0 loss at relegation-threatened Bournemouth over the weekend, hurting its possibilities of shifting nearer to the highest 4 within the Premier League. Mohamed Salah missed a penalty in that sport.