Liverpool in need of a stirring recovery against comeback masters Real Madrid

Three goals down, and up against the reigning European champions on their own turf. Pitching up in Spain fresh from a 1-0 defeat by Bournemouth. On the face of it, it is hard to summon much optimism for Liverpool’s chances of progress in the Champions League as they set about trying to make amends for a 5-2 first-leg deficit to Real Madrid.

Stranger reversals have happened, though, especially at this particular venue, although most of the great comebacks the Bernabeu has witnessed featured the home side. And several of them in the course of a rollercoaster European campaign last year that took Madrid towards the final and victory in Paris over Liverpool.

“When you play against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, you feel something unique in the atmosphere,” said Antonio Rudiger, the defender who speaks with special expertise. He joined Madrid last summer, a few months after being on the losing Chelsea team in a wildly fluctuating quarter-final where Chelsea took a lead in the tie once they were 3-0 up, with ten minutes of normal time to go, in the second leg at the Bernabeu. “That was tough,” recalled Rudiger.

It had been tough and nervous for Madrid, too, until they scraped their way into extra-time and, thanks to Karim Benzema, swung the pendulum their way. But those are 80 minutes from that Madrid-Chelsea game from 11 months ago that merit a glance from Jurgen Klopp and his players as they convince themselves a comeback on Wednesday is possible, Madrid potentially vulnerable.

Klopp has his own touchstones from the past, ready to be summoned - as long as this evening's version of his team takes on a posture more like the one that beat Manchester United 7-0 than the one that was ambushed at Bournemouth only six days later.

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