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Darwin Nunez just lit up Anfield with an outrageous flick to give Liverpool the lead vs Real Madrid

Darwin Nunez just lit up Anfield with an outrageous flick to give Liverpool the lead vs Real Madrid

A sensational start.

Daniel Marland

Daniel Marland

Darwin Nunez has given Liverpool the lead inside four minutes against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie with a truly superb goal.

Jurgen Klopp's side started the game, a repeat of last season's final in Paris, with great intensity. They were rewarded almost immediately thanks to a moment of brilliance from Nunez.

Mohamed Salah received the ball on the right-hand side before driving a low cross into the Madrid box.

Nunez, who scored in Saturday's 2-0 win over Newcastle United, managed to get away from Eder Militao with some fine movement.

He then flicked the ball past Thibaut Courtois to send Anfield wild. The 23-year-old arrived on Merseyside from Benfica over the summer to much fanfare.

Nunez initially struggled but is starting to come into his own. Injuries to Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz over the festive period meant the Uruguay international was given every chance to succeed.

Liverpool added a second 10 minutes later after Salah capitalised on a huge error from Courtois. Cody Gakpo overran a ball which ended up in Courtois' path.

He failed to control the ball and Salah nipped in to score his 42nd goal for the Reds in European football, moving him ahead of club legend Steven Gerrard.

Ahead of the game, Klopp reflected on May's 1-0 defeat in Paris. Vinicius Jr. scored the only goal of the game to give Real their 14th European title.

He admitted rewatching the game for the first time was 'torture' during his pre-match press conference.

Klopp said: "I didn’t watch it back until this weekend and the thing I realised immediately was now I know why I hadn’t.

Klopp during last season's Champions League final. (Image
Alamy)

"It was proper torture because we played a good game and could have won – and that’s the decisive word because we could but didn’t, because they scored and we didn’t.

"We saw how experienced Madrid is and how little they are fussed by the fact the other team has chances. They don’t lose confidence for one second."

Featured Image Credit: BT Sport

Topics: Liverpool, Real Madrid, Darwin Nunez, Champions League

Daniel is a social editor for SPORTbible after moving from the writing team. Nearly scored past Stormzy at Old Trafford once.

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@DanMarland_