Carlo Ancelotti mentioned Actual Madrid are "no way" by to the Champions League quarterfinals, regardless of inflicting Liverpool's biggest-ever house defeat in Europe with a 5-2 spherical of 16 first-leg victory at Anfield.
Madrid's win, which got here after being 2-0 down inside 14 minutes, is second solely to Ajax's 5-1 European Cup victory in Amsterdam as Liverpool's heaviest loss in European competitors.
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- Ogden: Madrid expose, humiliate Liverpool's defence in comeback
Two objectives every from Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema, plus an Eder Militao header, sealed the guests' exceptional fightback after Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah had given Liverpool an early lead.
However with Liverpool having historical past for producing dramatic Champions League fightbacks -- they overturned three-goal deficits to beat Ancelotti's AC Milan and Barcelona in 2005 and 2019, respectively -- Actual coach Ancelotti mentioned that this tie isn't over forward the return leg subsequent month.
"This is only the first part of a knockout tie," Ancelotti mentioned. "It's gone our way, but we'll need to imagine that in the second leg we'll have to suffer and work hard.
"Clearly we did not count on to start out like we did however at 2-0 down I believed concerning the [Manchester] Metropolis away leg final yr within the hope that we might do the identical -- however it turned out even higher.
"Liverpool is a great team which made us suffer in the first half so I'd say that, unfortunately, this tie isn't finished. No way."
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp dismissed Ancelotti's fears of a second-leg upset, nonetheless, by saying his aspect are going through elimination on the Santiago Bernabeu.
"I think Carlo thinks the tie is over and I think it as well in the moment," Klopp mentioned. "But the closer you get to the game, the bigger our chances become.
"We go there and attempt to win the sport. If that is attainable or not, I do not know. We are going to go there and play a soccer sport. It will likely be an enormous problem. However we've to play within the Premier League first and ensure we be taught from this sport."
The comeback by Madrid was sparked by two first-half goals from Vinicius, who took his personal tally against Liverpool to five goals in five games. And Ancelotti said that the Brazil international is now proving his status as a world-class player.
"Vinicius is probably the most decisive participant on the earth," Ancelotti said. "There is no such thing as a different participant like him proper now. He does not cease dribbling, capturing. I hope he can preserve this stage.
"Winning like this isn't easy, above all because of how the match began. We never lost confidence and little by little we won control of the ball. We were efficient up front and Vinicius produced an incredible performance."
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