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Tonight, I have witnessed perhaps the greatest heist in Liverpool's history. For 85 minutes, it felt like the lads had been introduced to the concept of football yesterday. PSG's attack relentlessly battered us from all sides, Dembélé and Kvaratskhelia especially refusing to let us rest. But amidst the chaos, our brick wall stood tall, delivering a goalkeeping masterclass that quite literally kept us in the game. He defended like his life depended on it, single-handedly holding back the PSG onslaught. While players like Trent and Dominik put in solid shifts, Alisson was undoubtedly our saving grace tonight.

Our attack was abysmal for most of the match, but our super subs truly turned the game around. The Alisson-Núñez-Harvey link up leading to goal was a lifeline, a completely undeserved moment of brilliance that somehow won us the game. By all logic, we had no right to walk away with a victory tonight—and yet, here we are. Strangely enough, this match has given me confidence for the second leg. If we can scam a win while playing this poorly, we'll be quite alright when we actually have our act together.

Credit has to go to the gaffer for his tactical decisions. Taking off your best player is never easy, but he identified the weak point, made the right changes, and ultimately secured us the result.

Also, I don’t know if Nike has laced those headbands with Compound V or something, but Szobo and Ali need to keep them on for the rest of the season.

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Barça's on fireeeeee, and Real Madrid's defence is terrifying — for all the wrong reasons. As the commentators noted during the first half, "defence makes the difference," and that sentiment perfectly describes the opening half. Both sides contain some of the most formidable attacking talent in the world, so when the offensive level is matched, it's the backline that determines success. Unfortunately for Real Madrid, their defensive display has been absolutely horrendous.

From the start, Barcelona looked rapid and quite satisfying in attack. Within the first few minutes, they created two very close chances that exposed Madrid's shaky defence. That being said, Mbappé's early goal came from a defensive lapse on Barcelona's part. Poor marking left him and Vini with all the space in the world, so conceding there was not a surprise. Stupid, but not a shock. Although the goal did seem to spark some confidence in Madrid's attack, particularly Bellingham, whose late run past the Barcelona defence was stunning to watch. As someone who doesn't watch much of La Liga, I hadn't seen him do that before, but it's clear why he’s so highly regarded.

From this point on, however, the match belonged to Barcelona. After Raphinha wrapped up his part-time referee shift, Barça finally put one past Madrid. It was a stunning touch of class from Lamine Yamal, receiving a brilliant pass from Lewandowski, and displaying such incredible composure to cut back across the goal to score. Barcelona's next goal came from a penalty conceded by an unnecessary challenge from Camavinga who caught Gavi's thigh with his foot. While I do think there was a bit of strategic diving from Gavi, it was a fair penalty, and Lewandowski, calm as you like, stepped up and obviously scored.

Real Madrid’s defence completely collapsed from there. They were caught napping when Raphinha made a sharp run behind their line to head in a sensational cross from Koundé. From then on, the game descended into chaos, as is often the case in El Clásico. Rudiger clattered Lewandowski twice within five minutes which although funny, was lowkey elder abuse.

I suspect the referee was an agent of  Florentino Perez because there's no other reason for Camavinga not being sent off. He was holding onto Lamine for dear life and managed to dodge a second yellow card. But Real Madrid quickly received karma in the from Balde scoring off the break after a wasted Madrid corner to cap off a cracking first half. Going into the second half, I was confident Barcelona had secured the win, but Real Madrid last minute black magic is a very real threat. Raphinha made it 5 for Barcelona with ease, cutting across acres of space, and chants of  "Visca Barça" echoed through the stadium. I'm pretty sure the Madrid defenders had gone home at this point. However, the game's dynamic shifted dramatically when Szczesny was sent off for a risky challenge on Mbappé, allowing Rodrygo to score from the subsequent free kick. From that moment, Madrid became the more dominant side, understandably so. And of course, the sketchy referring continued because how on earth did Vini also dodge a yellow card for dragging his studs down Kounde's Achilles.

The end of the match regained some life with a bit more sporadic play, but the last real threat — a late chance from Mbappé — proved futile. Without the red card, Madrid should be grateful, as this match could easily have ended 6-2 or even 7-2 in Barcelona’s favour. In the end, it was another El Clásico humiliation for Madrid and Hansi Flick’s first trophy with Barcelona. Fun fact: Flick has never lost a final, so perhaps Barça were destined to win all along!

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What an electric first half! Wow! Although it’s been a half devoid of goals, it’s most definitely not been devoid of action. The two teams were equally matched for the majority of the half with a decent bit of end-to-end football. The Liverpool attacks felt a bit more hesitant than those of Madrid. We are constantly trying to squeeze the ball through spaces that don’t exist in the final third, but at the same time, when Madrid gets the ball down their end, they don’t seem to be able to finish their chances.

There have been some cracking chances, though, most notably Darwin’s header that just skimmed past the post. Both sides have had some corners with ours being far more threatening - we’ve been able to clear Madrid’s once they land. there’ve been 4 yellow cards but it feels as though there should be more (I’m looking at YOU Modric for that awful challenge on our Ibou).

My highlight of the half has got to be Conor’s challenge on Mbappé - absolutely sensational stuff. He’s really held his own in this match and hasn’t crumbled under the pressure of defending one of the best attackers in the world. Virgil punting Mbappé is also a close second by the way LOL. Our whole defence has been amazing so far. Ibou, Virg, Conor, and even Robbo (lol) have given it all a good go. It’s come close, but they’ve held it down, and I’m round of them. Another stand out player for me is Curtis; he’s been moving pretty well throughout the midfield.

And a stunning first half was matched by an equally wondrous second half. Conor Bradley, take a bow. Not even 10 minutes into the half, he's not just had an amazing chance but also assisted Macca for a gorgeous goal. It was a lovely bit of play and good to see all the lads' effort finally come into fruition. Not too soon after, Vasquez was left unmarked by Robbo who panicked and ended up making a foolish tackle that conceded us a penalty (that being Robbo's 2nd this week!). Mbappé went up to take it but he was no match for the man, the myth, the absolute LEGEND Caiomhin Kelleher. Many thanks to the great nation of Ireland for the gifts of Conor and Kweev.

The next stand out moment was Conor picking the ball of Mbappé (for maybe the 100th time tonight), making a pass to Mo who then charged down into the penalty box and trips over Mendy. Madrid concede a penalty. But Mo, in an effort to make Mbappé feel better I'm sure, put it wide. Continuing on, Cody scored a beauty of a header to round off the scoreline. Despite some late challenges from Madrid, all remained well in Anfield. Liverpool are top of the Champions' League table, the only team to score maximum points - Carlo Ancelotti, welcome to the Arne Slot Penitentiary.

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