1 year ago
286 Chris Sutton has told BBC Sport that the early strike from Darwin Nunez was really poor as Liverpool passed up the opportunity to take an early lead against Real Madrid inside the Bernabeu.
Of course, if there was one team who stood a chance of overturning the three-goal deficit from the first-leg, it was surely Jurgen Klopp’s side. But a fast start seemed essential in the Spanish capital.
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And they threatened to make one. Mo Salah capitalised on a slip from Antonio Rudiger around 30 yards from goal. And the Egyptian was able to slide Nunez in for a chance on the edge of the Real Madrid box.
Sutton criticises Darwin Nunez after early Liverpool opportunity
Nunez was under a little pressure. But he did have a yard of space to get an effort off at Thibaut Courtois. However, the Uruguayan’s strike – while powerfully-hit – went straight at the Belgian, and Real were able to clear the danger.
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It was always going to be tricky for Nunez to beat Courtois from that position. However, Sutton was clearly not impressed with the effort the forward ended up producing.
“It is a really poor finish, Salah got onto a loopy pass from Carvajal and he was able to slip in Darwin Nunez. The shot is straight at the goalkeeper but he should be hitting the corners,” he told BBC Sport.
It would have changed everything had Nunez taken that early opportunity. He has been so bright at times over the last few weeks. And Liverpool fans would have held their breath when the ball fell to him for that chance.
It was a shame that he pretty much put the ball straight at Courtois. You can understand why he opted for power from that distance. But that meant that he was not able to be too precise with the strike itself.
It would have been fascinating to know what could have happened had Nunez opened the scoring in that moment.
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