Liverpool destroyed by Real Madrid in Champions League landslide - in pictures

Holders fight back from 2-0 down to hit five at Anfield in last-16 first-leg

Karim Benzema celebrates after scoring Real Madrid's fifth goal in the 5-2 Champions League win at Anfield on February 21, 2023. AP

Liverpool's Alisson looks dejected after Karim Benzema's fifth goal for Real. Reuters

Karim Benzema, second right, celebrates after scoring Real's fourth goal. AP

Madrid's Karim Benzema celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Dani Carvajal. Reuters

Madrid's Eder Militao, left, celebrates after scoring his side's third goal. AP

Militao, right, celebrates after scoring. AP

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates scoring their second goal with Rodrygo and Eder Militao. Reuters

Vinicius Junior celebrates after scoring Real's second goal. Getty

Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates scoring their second goal. Reuters

Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates scoring their first goal, cutting Liverpool's lead to 2-1. Reuters

Vinicius Junior scores the first for Real. EPA

Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois looks dejected after his mistake allows Mohamed Salah to score Liverpool's second goal. Getty

Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring his side's second goal. AP

Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring. Reuters

Darwin Nunez celebrates after opening the scoring for Liverpool. AP

Real Madrid players look dejected after Darwin Nunez scores. Reuters

Holders Real Madrid fought back from 2-0 down to crush Liverpool 5-2 at Anfield on an incredible night of Champions League football.

In a repeat of last season's final, the Spanish giants again enjoyed a night to remember, and left Jurgen Klopp's side needing a miracle to get through in the last 16 return leg in Spain in three weeks.

Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah had given the hosts a perfect start inside 14 minutes at a raucous Anfield.

But Vinicius Junior struck twice to level by half-time and, after Eder Militao had given Carlo Ancelotti's side the lead, Karim Benzema's double put the holders well on the way to the quarter-finals.

“Very difficult. It's hard to sum it up straight after the game. Mixed feelings. Frustration with the result,” Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson told BT Sport.

“For large parts of the first half we performed well and were unlucky to be level at half-time.

“We made too many mistakes. Real Madrid punished us every time tonight.

“A lot was [down to] their quality. We didn't help ourselves for sure. We didn't defend well enough. The game went away from us at that point.

“The last two games we kept clean sheets. It's hard. it's difficult to come here and speak. Yes, they have a lot of quality. When you're not 100 per cent defending they punish you. We caused ourselves problems at times. It's a tough one to take in the end.

“It's [the second leg] still a few weeks away. We have to move on quickly. We have Premier League games before then so we have to concentrate on that, and cross this bridge when we come to it.”

Madrid's 1-0 victory when the sides met in Paris last May was overshadowed by chaotic scenes outside the Stade de France that put the lives of supporters at risk, with Uefa initially blaming fans for arriving late.

The Liverpool support responded by drowning out the Champions League anthem with a chorus of boos, while a series of banners in the Kop stand took aim at Uefa and the French authorities.

Once the action got underway, the players produced the spectacle expected of a clash between two clubs with a combined 20 European Cups.

Liverpool have suffered a huge hangover from missing out on both the Premier League and Champions League by the finest of margins last season.

Klopp's men sit eighth in the Premier League but briefly turned back the clock to explode out of the blocks.

Nunez produced a magical finish to flick home Salah's pass inside four minutes.

Thibaut Courtois broke Liverpool hearts in Paris with a string of stunning saves that earned the Belgian man-of-the-match.

But a loose touch from Courtois handed Salah Liverpool's second on a plate as the Egyptian became the Reds' all-time top goalscorer in European competition with 42.

But the defending champions showed remarkable powers of recovery to turn the tie around in little over 30 minutes of play.

Vinicius was the match-winner in last season's final and now has five goals in four appearances against Liverpool.

The Brazilian flashed a shot into the far corner to get the comeback started on 21 minutes.

Madrid still needed some desperate defending from Dani Carvajal and Militao to prevent Salah and Nunez restoring Liverpool's two-goal lead in a goalmouth scramble.

But another calamitous error from one of the world's leading goalkeepers gifted Madrid an equaliser when Alisson Becker's attempted clearance bounced off Vinicius and into an unguarded net.

Only a brilliant last-ditch challenge from Andy Robertson prevented Rodrygo from putting Madrid in front before half-time.

However, Liverpool's leaky defence was far more brittle at the start of the second period as Militao was afforded a free header to turn in Luka Modric's free-kick.

Fortune was also on the side of the Spanish giants for the fourth goal as Benzema's shot deflected off Joe Gomez to leave Alisson stranded.

There was nothing lucky about the visitors' fifth as a clinical team move cut Liverpool to pieces.

Modric burst through midfield and fed Vinicius, who teed up Benzema to coolly round Alisson and slot into the top corner.

The sides meet again on March 15, but the second leg now appears little more than a formality on a night Madrid showed why they remain the kings of Europe.