Real Madrid hammer Liverpool in seven-goal thriller

Real Madrid came back from 2-0 down to humiliate Liverpool 5-2 in the first leg of their last-16 tie at Anfield.

Action: It was a dream start at Anfield as with only four minutes gone, Darwin Nunez produced a moment of magic to put the hosts in front, meeting Mo Salah's whipped ball with a tremendous right-foot flick that flashed past Thibaut Courtois.

Just 10 minutes later, the Reds doubled their lead after Courtois got his feet all wrong in possession and kneed the ball right to Salah, who could not miss and became Liverpool's highest-ever goalscorer in European football with 42 goals.

Jurgen Klopp's men looked in full control of the tie but Vinicius Junior pulled one back for the visitors with a superb right-foot finish into the bottom corner midway the first half.

Los Blancos levelled before half time after Alisson's terrible attempted pass struck Vinicius and looped into the net.

The reigning champions went in front two minutes into the second half when Eder Militao powered home a header from a Luka Modric free-kick.

Then two quick-fire goals from Karim Benzema put the tie out of sight for the Merseysiders. In the 55th minute, the Frenchman's effort suffered a deflection off Joe Gomez to wrongfoot Alisson and double Real's lead.

Carlo Ancelotti's men added a fifth as Benzema sat Alisson down and fired into an empty net following another amazing counter attack.

Big Picture: This was Liverpool's heaviest-ever home European defeat and leaves them with an absolute mountain to climb ahead of the second leg at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, March 15.

Next up, Liverpool return to Premier League action away to Crystal Palace on Saturday, while Real have a Madrid derby as they host Atletico Madrid in La Liga.

Reaction: Jurgen Klopp: "We gave all five goals away. It means we could have done better there. In our situation, it is really important we see positive steps and the first half was, besides the two goals we conceded, pretty much the best we played all season."

xG: Liverpool (2.09) 2-5 (1.66) Real Madrid

Stat of the Day: Liverpool are the first team in UEFA Champions League history to take a 2-0 lead but then lose the game by a three-goal margin.