Liverpool fell to their heaviest European home defeat on Tuesday as they were mauled 5-2 by Real Madrid at Anfield in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie....CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah both scored early on to put Liverpool 2-0 up in a first half which was defined by goalkeeper errors, but Real fired back and doubles from Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema, with an Eder Militao header sandwiched in between, sealed a famous comeback for Los Blancos.
Here are the three Liverpool players to blame for their loss to Real Madrid
Van Dijk
Virgil van Dijk has been a rock at the heart of the Reds defence for years. But following a recent spell on the sidelines he didn’t look up to speed against Carlo Ancelotti’s men. Real carved the home defence open far too easily and Van Dijk could do nothing about it.
Gakpo
Cody Gakpo set the tone for his evening in the first two minutes after he slipped over when finding himself in a good position in the box. He was ineffective in front of goal and will need to improve to keep his place in the coming weeks.
Jordan Henderson
Another culpable for Real’s first goal as he left his man, but three times more in the first half got back to tackle and halt counters as Real threatened to burst forward in numbers. Like his midfield partners, was overrun and mauled and looked like a relic as soon as Real upped the tempo of their passing in central areas.
