As far as UEFA Champions League quarter-final ties go, they don’t get much bigger than this. Real Madrid hosted Liverpool at the Alfredo Di Stéfano in the first leg of the repeat of the 2018 Champions League final, but a number of key players were missing from both sides. Neither team had either of their two senior centre-backs available, while Eden Hazard and Dani Carvajal were also out for Los Blancos.
Two depleted defences meant that we certainly had goals in store, and that was just the case as Real Madrid emerged 3-1 winners – just as they had done nearly three years ago.