Needing to conjure up a slice of Bernabeu magic to prolong their European journey, Liverpool make the journey to the Spanish capital to face Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday night.

Carlo Ancelotti’s continental veterans fought back from 2-0 down to record a phenomenal 5-2 win in the first leg at Anfield three weeks ago, and only the most calamitous of calamitous collapses would see the tickets to the quarter-finals change hands.

Players to watch: Madrid will hope Vinícius Júnior can continue his love affair with Liverpool, having racked up a remarkable six goal contributions in five H2Hs (G5, A1).

He’ll be looking to outperform Liverpool’s red-hot Mohamed Salah who’s scored in six consecutive UCL matches (G8), with half of those goals coming in the 75th minute and onwards.

Hot stat: Both teams have found the net in 16 of Real Madrid’s last 20 home UCL matches.

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Nacho; Modric, Tchouameni, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius Jr

Liverpool possible starting lineup:

Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson; Salah, Jota, Nunez; Gakpo

Real Madrid Champions League form:

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Real Madrid form (all competitions):

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Liverpool Champions League form:

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Liverpool form (all competitions):

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Real Madrid 3-1 Liverpool (Real Madrid win 8-3 on aggregate)

Perhaps treading with caution given what happened to their Catalonian counterparts four years ago, Real Madrid can rest easy in the knowledge that Klopp’s current Liverpool crop do not strike the same fear into the hearts of opposing teams, especially with their measly away record in 2023.

Ancelotti’s side cannot expect to keep a vengeful Reds team at bay, especially given their own patchy spell, but Los Blancos in the Champions League is normally always a foregone conclusion, and the return of Benzema should only make their second-leg win all the more emphatic en route to a place in the last eight.