Liverpool defeated Southampton to go eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table and will now face Real Madrid hoping to maintain their perfect start in the Champions League.
The Los Blancos are 18th in the CL and another defeat will severely damage their chances of directly qualifying for the Round of 16 of the competition.
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Madrid comprehensively defeated Leganes last night to move into second place and are now four points behind leaders, Barcelona, but have a game in hand.
With Eder Militao and David Alaba out injured, Carlo Ancelotti had no option but to give youth a chance and in the past two games, a Raul Asencio has stepped up big time.
Before the international break, the 21-year-old Spaniard made his debut for the senior side and provided an assist in the 4-0 victory over Osasuna.
Last night, the young central defender featured for full 90 minutes alongside Antonio Rudiger and helped the La Liga champions keep a clean sheet as the contest ended 3-0.
As per today’s edition of AS (news image provided below), the headline states ‘Asencio earns the chance to live the dream at Anfield’.
In the absence of star center backs, Ancelotti has tried out Asencio and the Italian now knows that the defender is competent and ready to play against Liverpool.
The Madrid based outlet state that even though French midfielder, Aurelien Tchouameni, has made a quick recovery from his injury, Raul Asencio deserves to hear the Champions League anthem against Liverpool on the coveted pitch of Anfield.
AS state that if Ancelotti, while going to Liverpool in ‘a sea of casualties’, decides to sing the Beatles song, ‘Help! I need somebody’, then that help will be offered to him in the form of Asencio.
Have your say – Who would come out on top on Wednesday night?
