Real Madrid Give Liverpool a European Lesson in Champions League Defeat

LIVERPOOL, England — Liverpool were taught a harsh lesson by European champions Real Madrid as three first-half goals blew Brendan Rodgers' side away 3-0.

In all honesty, from the moment Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring on 23 minutes, Liverpool never looked like getting back into the group-stage game. Karim Benzema added a second at the half-hour mark and the third shortly before the break courtesy of more calamitous defending on a corner.

Conceding a goal from a set piece has become more than Liverpool’s Achilles' heel this season, as those situations have led to guaranteed goals for their opponent—Real Madrid clearly knew the weakness and exploited it in addition to Liverpool’s fragile confidence.

It was so easy for Carlo Ancelotti’s side that the Italian boss was able to bring Ronaldo and Toni Kroos off midway through the second half with El Clasico in mind.

Any half-time talk of an Istanbul-style miracle, achieved against Ancelotti’s AC Milan in 2005, were not just optimistic but borderline delusional. The fact that Rodgers’ side didn’t concede another in the second half was a minor miracle in itself.

The Balotelli Show

Jon Super/Associated Press

The headlines will be dominated by Rodgers’ removal of Mario Balotelli at half-time. The 24-year-old forward is seriously struggling, and so are his team-mates with him.

Again, he refused to make a near-post run for an opportunity, which is something Liverpool fans have come to get used to in these two months since he joined the club.

The half-time changing of shirts with Madrid defender Pepe as the two walked down the Anfield tunnel irked the crowd and will no doubt have irked Rodgers too. The Northern Irishman wasn’t happy when Mamadou Sakho swapped shirts with Chelsea’s Samuel Eto’o last season.

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Rodgers says he will "deal it with it" after being informed Ballotelli swapped his shirt at half time #LFC

— Ian Dennis (@Iandennisbbc) October 22, 2014"

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Rodgers on Balotelli shirt swap: We had an incident last year [Sakho] and it was dealt with internally. Not something I stand for.

— This Is Anfield (@thisisanfield) October 22, 2014"

How Rodgers handles Balotelli from here will be interesting, especially given the busy run of fixtures and Daniel Sturridge's injury.

"This won’t be the Mario Balotelli show every week," the boss told reporters upon his arrival at the end of August. It's quickly becoming just that.

Bright Start

Jon Super/Associated Press

Rodgers said afterwards that he was "proud" of his players, suggesting that other teams might crumble against such an impressive Real Madrid side when 3-0 down at half-time.

The boss also praised Liverpool's start to the match during which Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen were effective while pressing from midfield. "The first goal knocked us back a bit. We're disappointed with it, then we conceded two more quite quickly," said Rodgers.

"I actually thought we started very well, we were coping very well," said the Liverpool boss. This is true.

He opted for the midfield diamond shape and Raheem Sterling higher up alongside Balotelli, playing on the shoulder of the defence.

Once Madrid scored, though, 4-4-2 diamond quickly became 4-5-1 sitting deep. Philippe Coutinho and Sterling were withdrawn into wide areas, meaning Real's midfield trio of Kroos, Isco and Luka Modric had time and space to control the game—without Coutinho in a central role and Balotelli offering any work rate to close them down either.

Decisions

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There is much work to do for Liverpool, and Rodgers faces possibly the biggest decision of his career over how to handle Balotelli.

Rodgers has never shirked big decisions in the past—replacing Pepe Reina, casting aside Andy Carroll, changing Steven Gerrard's position. But this is a whole new dilemma, especially given the lack of other forward options now available.

Rodgers lacks faith in Fabio Borini and seemingly now Rickie Lambert, too.

Considering Madrid are susceptible to crosses and aren't the best at defending in the air, Lambert will have sat on the bench frustrated at not getting an opportunity while Balotelli toiled up front.

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Quotes obtained first hand unless otherwise stated.