Liverpool 0-0 Real Madrid: Poor finishing costs Liverpool semi-final place.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

3-1 down, Champions League quarter-final, Anfield. It was all set up for yet another famous evening under the lights at Anfield for Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League, but due to the forward's lack of competence in front of goal, the Reds played out a goalless draw in the second leg and lived to rue the poor quality in Madrid from the first leg. 

The thing that hurts the most about this result is that it feels more like a 0-0 defeat than a 0-0 draw. Two goals without reply would have seen Liverpool through to the semi-final thanks to Mo Salah's away goal in Madrid last Tuesday, but Liverpool's scoring sensation was off the boil as he alone had at least three chances to score throughout the game, once thwarted by Thibaut Courtois, once blocked by a Madrid defender, and once blazed over the bar. Also missing clear cut opportunities was Gini Wijnaldum who also launched a shot into the upper tier of the Anfield Road End from eight yards out, and Sadio Mane who was desperately unlucky to lose his footing after being given the freedom of the penalty area after a neat turn away from Valverde.

Despite Liverpool having 57% possession, and 15 of the game's 21 shots, Real Madrid were desperate to get their fourth goal of the tie to kill any hope Liverpool had of a comeback. Karim Benzema hit the post from a deflected shot midway through the first half and Vinicius Jr had a through ball intercepted by Alisson late on in the second. Liverpool's defenders on the night played superbly and were ultimately let down by those at the other end of the pitch. Nat Phillips, once again, was excellent in the centre of defence next to Ozan Kabak, and the Bolton boy won every header thrown at him and kept the fifth-highest scorer in Champions League history quiet. Trent Alexander-Arnold also deserves a lot of credit as he practically ran Liverpool's game from right-back, not allowing Vinicius a sniff for the large majority of the game whilst also managing to be the main attacking outlet and creating a handful of chances that the forwards could potentially have done better with. 

Now that the Champions League is done and dusted, it's down to the final seven Premier League games of the season for Liverpool to try and get back in the big league for a fifth consecutive season, which would be their longest run since qualifying every year through the top 4 between 2006 and 2009. However, this aim is not even in Liverpool's hands, as Chelsea and high flying West Ham have both showed minimal signs of allowing Liverpool to leapfrog them in the battle for the final Champions League spot, therefore Thursday night football may be (begrudgingly) returning to Anfield when supporters are hopefully permitted back into stadiums for next season. And how different it could have been if Anfield had been packed with 50,000 singing and swinging scarfs on this missed opportunity for Liverpool.