Liverpool vs Real Madrid – Champions League: start time, team news and how to watch
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Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool host Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid in what promises to be an exciting Champions League round of 16 tie.
The two teams met in last season’s final in Paris, with Ancelotti’s Real Madrid winning 1-0 thanks to a Vinicius Jr goal.
The Reds have picked up some momentum in the league recently after getting off to a poor start despite spending over £120m in the summer and winter windows on the likes of Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo.
Klopp’s men currently sit eighth in the league and are coming off a 2-0 win at Newcastle, with Núñez and Gakpo scoring both goals, their second win in a row after also beating rivals Everton by 2 -0.
Meanwhile, Madrid look to reassert their dominance in Europe again as they shift their attention away from La Liga, where they are currently eight points behind rival Barcelona. The team recently won the Club World Cup, building on their triumph in the Spanish Super Cup last year, and have won their last four matches.
Mohamed Salah will seek to inspire Liverpool to victory tonight against Real Madrid
Carlo Ancelotti’s team arrives for the game after a 2-0 away win against Osasuna
Ancelotti’s side scored twice in the second half to secure a 2-0 win at Osasuna, with Federico Valverde and Marco Asensio scoring for Madrid.
Sportsmail breaks down everything you need to know ahead of Liverpool’s meeting with Madrid, including kick-off time, TV channels and team news.
When is Liverpool vs Real Madrid?
Liverpool will face Madrid tonight (Tuesday, February 21), with the start of the game at 8:00 p.m.
The round of 16 clash will take place at Anfield.
Fans of the Merseyside club will not be optimistic ahead of tonight’s clash, as the Reds’ last win against Madrid came in 2009.
Fernando Torres, a brace from Steven Gerrard and Andrea Dossena secured a famous 4-0 win at Anfield.
Since then, Liverpool have lost to them twice in the 2014-15 group stage before losing the 2018 Champions League final to them 3-1.
In the 2020-21 season they met them in the quarter-finals, losing the first leg 3-1 before drawing 0-0 in the second leg, eventually losing 1-0 in last year’s final. .
how to look
Liverpool’s clash with Madrid will be televised live on BT Sport 1, with coverage starting at 7pm
The game will also be broadcast live on the official BT Sport app.
Match highlights will be uploaded to the BT Sport YouTube channel after the match.
Sportsmail will also be covering the game live, so you can stay up to date with the latest developments here.
Tonight’s Champions League match between Liverpool and Madrid will be played at Anfield
team news
Darwin Núñez is hoping to face Madrid tonight. Klopp confirmed that the striker suffered a shoulder injury in the match against Newcastle.
Liverpool have started Fabinho, Stefan Bajcetic and Jordan Henderson in midfield in back-to-back Premier League games, with the trio likely to feature early on against the Champions League holders.
As for Ancelotti’s side, Aurelien Tchouameni will miss tonight’s game after withdrawing from the squad in his last game due to a virus.
Toni Kroos is also unavailable, and Dani Ceballos is likely to start in midfield alongside Eduardo Camavinga and Luka Modric.
Darwin Núñez hoping to feature despite getting injured in Liverpool’s last league game
Real Madrid will be without key midfielder Toni Kroos for the match against Liverpool at Anfield
What has been said?
With Liverpool hosting Madrid tonight, Klopp admitted that losing last year’s final to Los Blancos was so painful that he only got to watch it this weekend, describing the game as “torture”.
“What I realized right away was that now I know why I didn’t see him again, but I had to,” Klopp said. “It was real torture because we played a good match and we could have won, and that’s the decisive word because we could but we didn’t because they scored and we didn’t.” That is the decisive reason.
“We have seen how experienced Madrid is and how little they are bothered by the fact that the other team has chances.
Jurgen Klopp admitted it was “torture” to see defeat in last year’s Champions League final again
“They don’t lose confidence for a second, they know that ‘our opportunity will come’ and they defend with legs. That’s what you can learn from them, definitely.
The German also believes that the match has come at the perfect time, but says that his team must play their best to win, while Madrid can play poorly and still win.
“I’m happy that we can play now, four weeks ago it would have been different, but it’s about time,” Klopp said.
‘I would have expected us to go ourselves anyway because it’s a different competition.
“Hopefully we can build on the results, but we need to play a great game to get through.” If you don’t play to the best of your ability, you don’t stand a chance. Madrid don’t have to play their best and still have a chance. That is the difference.’