As Liverpool gear up for the second leg of their last-16 match with Real Madrid, Paul Merson believes the Reds have “no chance” of making it to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
After suffering their worst Champions League defeat at Anfield last month, Jürgen Klopp’s team will need to come back from a 5-2 deficit to advance to the last eight.
Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah gave the home team the lead after a frenetic 14 minutes, but two goals from Vincius Junior, one from Karim Benzema, and one from Éder Milito gave the holders a significant lead going into Wednesday’s second leg at the Bernabéu.
In the 2018 and 2022 finals, Liverpool fell to Madrid. They were also eliminated by Madrid in the 2020–21 competition.
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And Merson thinks that Carlo Ancelotti’s team will once more defeat Jurgen Klopp’s team after Saturday’s unexpected 1-0 setback at Bournemouth.
“Managers have to keep level-headed and so do players. Liverpool had a great result against Manchester United that will put them in the history books but then you’ve got to turn up and perform at Bournemouth,” Merson wrote in his Sky Sports column.
“When you watch the Bournemouth game you think, ‘What chance have Liverpool got at Real Madrid?’
“Needing to score three, at least, is a big ask, it would be one of the greatest Champions League comebacks of all time.
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“Barcelona did it against PSG but that was at home. This is away at the cup holders. If it was two goals then you never know, but three…I give them no chance.”
Liverpool did overturn a three-goal deficit against Barcelona on their way to winning the Champions League in 2019.
After a 3-0 loss at the Camp Nou, the Reds won the second leg of their semi-final 4-0 on an historic night at Anfield.
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