A night that began with a Liverpool rebellion on and off the field ended with a chorus of “Oles” from the visiting support as Real Madrid ran riot to win the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie 5-2. An independent investigation into the chaotic scenes surrounding the Champions League final in Paris last May has laid the blame clearly at UEFA’s door for endangering the safety of supporters. There was a time when a 2-0 deficit to Klopp’s Liverpool would have seemed insurmountable to even the European champions. Self-inflicted damageVincius Junior’s strike to bring Real back into the tie and Karim Benzema’s cool finish to round off the scoring were moments of individual and collective brilliance from the Spanish champions. Klopp has made Champions League football the norm again at Anfield, but there is a real risk that six successive seasons in the competition comes to an end this year.
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