(Football news) Real Madrid a few weeks ago shocked the footballing world when they came back from 2 goals down to win 5-2 at Anfield. Now Liverpool have a really difficult task to do as they have to win by 3 goals to take it to extra time. Real Madrid will be well aware of the possibility of that happening as Chelsea did something similar last season. Chelsea lost 3-1 at the Stamford Bridge in the quarter finals last season but they took a 3-0 lead at the Bernabéu in the reverse fixture. Real Madrid managed to comeback and win in extra time but that may not happen again so Los Blancos cannot afford to be complacent.

It has been a mixed bag of results for Liverpool since the first leg as they drew against relegation threatened Crystal Palace right after and lost to Bournemouth on the weekend. However a 7-0 win over Manchester United was incredible and gave the fans some hope. Real Madrid have won 1 lost 1 and drawn 2 since the reverse leg so they’re not in the best of form. Real Madrid will definitely enter the fixture as the favourites but Liverpool cannot be counted out just yet. It will be a massive ask for the Merseyside club, especially at the Santiago Bernabéu and they will have to play the game of their lives to make it to the quarter finals.

Real Madrid will be without David Alaba who is yet to recover from the injury he suffered at Anfield. Long term absentee Ferland Mendy is back but he is likely to be on the bench. Karim Benzema has also recovered from his knock as he is fully fit. Liverpool on the other hand will be missing Luis Diaz, Thiago Alcantara and Calvin Ramsay once again. Joe Gomez has recovered from his injury but Jordan Henderson and Stefan Bajcetic are injured. Naby Kieta is a doubt while Arthur is once again not named in the squad. Liverpool have a sort of midfield crisis which may force Jurgen Klopp to play a 4-2-4 formation.

Also read: Manchester City secure a UCL quarter final berth as Erling Haaland scores 5