Spanish Real Madrid continued its campaign to defend its title in the UEFA Champions League, which it crowned last season, after qualifying for the quarter-finals in the continental competition.
Real won 1-0 at home to Liverpool, England, on Wednesday, in the second leg of the 16th round of the Champions League, repeating its victory over the red team, which it defeated 5-2 in the first leg, which took place at (Anfield) stadium last week, to win the ticket to the next round after its victory 6- 2 on aggregate.
And at the (Santiago Bernabeu) stadium in the Spanish capital, Madrid, the veteran French star, Karim Benzema, played the championship role, after scoring Real Madrid’s only goal in the 78th minute.
Benzema continued to hit Liverpool’s net for the second consecutive match, after scoring a double against the English team during the first leg, to raise his scoring tally in the tournament this season to 3 goals.
Real’s victory over its English rival came with minimal effort, in light of its players’ unwillingness to overexert themselves for fear of being injured before the upcoming confrontation against its host and arch-rivals Barcelona in the La Liga championship next Sunday in the La Liga championship.
Real Madrid must collect the three points against its Catalan counterpart in the match that takes place at the (Spotify Camp Nou) stadium, in order to cling to its hopes of retaining the local title, which it won last season.
The white team occupies second place in the La Liga standings, 9 points behind Barcelona (leader), which makes it required to harvest the three points from the stronghold of its arch-rival.
Despite this, Benzema raised the concerns of the Real Madrid fans, in light of his injury while scoring the goal against Liverpool, forcing the Italian Carlo Ancelotti, coach of the royal team, to replace him immediately.
With that result, Real Madrid, which won the continental title last year after defeating Liverpool 1-0 in the final, continued its superiority over the red team, after defeating it for the third consecutive and seventh match in their last eight Champions League meetings.
Liverpool’s last victory over Real Madrid dates back to March 10, 2009, when it won a landslide 4-0 victory over the royal team, in the second leg of the 16th round of the 2008-2009 season.
