‘They’re not playing QPR!’: Marca recreate The Beatles Abbey Road album cover ahead of Real Madrid’s Anfield showdown with Liverpool tonight… but the iconic picture was actually taken in north-west London!
- Real Madrid face Liverpool in the Champions League quarter-finals at Anfield
- Spanish sports paper Marca have recreated an iconic photo ahead of the clash
- The Beatles’ famous 1969 Abbey Road album cover was shot in NW London
- Marca have photoshopped four Madrid players with the headline: ‘SEMIS ROAD’
Spanish sports newspaper Marca have recreated The Beatles’ iconic Abbey Road album cover on today’s front page ahead of Real Madrid‘s clash against Liverpool at Anfield – a move ridiculed by some on social media!
The famous 1969 album cover for The Beatles, who were formed in Liverpool, was actually shot in north-West London, with the album named after the location of EMI Studios.
The photo features the group walking across the street’s zebra crossing in an image that became one of the most famous in popular music – and Marca have given their own twist to the photo with Luka Modric, Vinicus Jr, Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema photoshopped onto the zebra crossing, with the headline ‘SEMIS ROAD’ brandished above.
Marca have recreated the iconic Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover (R) on their front page (L)
The album was named after the location of EMI Studios based in London, not Liverpool
The front page caught the attention of Spanish football presenter Phil Kitromilides, who joked: ‘They’re not playing QPR!’
Madrid have a 3-1 lead going into tonight’s Champions League quarter-final second-leg and are favourites to progress to the semis against Chelsea.
Real head into the decider at Anfield following a run of six consecutive wins in all competitions and on a high after beating arch-rivals Barcelona 2-1 on Saturday to move one point behind LaLiga leaders Atletico Madrid.
Yet they do so with a depleted and increasingly tired squad due to a punishing run of injuries at the decisive stage of the campaign, which prompted Zidane to say after the win over Barca that his team were ‘stretched to the limit’.
But he insisted his players would not be looking to reserve any energy against Liverpool.
Spanish football presenter Phil Kitromilides joked about the page: ‘They’re not playing QPR’
Zinedine Zidane says Real will not just cling on to their 3-1 lead when they visit Liverpool
‘We’re not going to try and manage our effort levels, we’ve come here to win and that’s what we’ll try to do,’ Zidane told a news conference.
‘We’ve spoken about this with the team, we made a huge effort in the first leg and against Barcelona but we’re used to it.’
Real travelled to Merseyside with a similar squad to the one that beat Jurgen Klopp’s side last week in the Spanish capital, still missing defenders Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, Dani Carvajal and record signing Eden Hazard.
The Real Madrid manager did also admit his players are ‘exhausted’ and ‘stretched to the limit’
They will also be without Lucas Vazquez, who sustained a knee injury against Barcelona which has ended his season.
‘A lot of things have happened to us this season, we are missing a lot of players right now and, while I’d love to have them all available, we’re going to make sure we put in our best performances with the players we have,’ Zidane added.
‘This team always comes together in the toughest of times, which shows the character we have.’
