Liverpool vs. Real Madrid: Lessons Learned from Champions League Game
Liverpool were given a harsh lesson about how the Champions League has moved on without them in their five-year absence from the competition as Real Madrid emphatically produced a 3-0 win at Anfield.
The hosts actually started pretty well, but fell behind when Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first Anfield goal with a sublime finish following a one-two with James Rodriguez.
Sloppy home defending then played a part as Real extended their lead to 2-0 and then 3-0 as Karim Benzema headed home and then scrambled the ball in following a corner, ensuring that there was no way back for the Reds, although Philippe Coutinho came close to reducing the deficit when he hit the post from distance just before the break.
Here are some lessons learned from a chastening night for the hosts.
The Champions League Has Moved on Without Liverpool
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Throughout last season, the great thing about Liverpool’s Premier League title challenge was that it seemed so off the cuff. They were reaching new heights and didn’t seem to know how they’d arrived there.
You can say that they were dragged along by Luis Suarez if you like, but there were 10 other players on the pitch (at least until Jordan Henderson was sent off against Manchester City), so it wasn’t all about him.
Had that team gone toe-to-toe with Real Madrid Wednesday, then we could have seen a real contest, but this version of Brendan Rodgers’ side didn’t have the quality or dynamism to take on the European champions.
The gulf in class between them and the very best sides was horribly exposed here, suggesting it might be a while before that gap closes again.
Real Madrid Are Worthy Favourites
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Back-to-back Champions League titles—something which has never been done in the modern competition, but has been done with the old European Cup by both of these clubs—looks very much on for Real Madrid, whom you sense could have been even more ruthless here if they’d wanted to be.
At times they seemed almost to be daring Liverpool to attack them—such was the relish with which they could throw their opponents up into the air and leave them bedraggled at the other end. It was a bit like sitting on a seesaw with a heavy kid for Liverpool—they couldn’t really do anything right because they didn’t have the power to.
Point at the defending for the second and third goals if you like, but you get the sense that Real would have scored them anyway at some point. They were magisterial.
Cristiano Ronaldo Will Break the Champions League Record in 2 Weeks’ Time
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Ronaldo's tally brought him to one goal short of Raul's European record of 71.
He could have leveled it here, but Simon Mignolet did well to block Ronaldo’s effort when he seemed certain to score in front of the Kop. However, you get the sense that the Portuguese will have his big night in Madrid in two weeks’ time, as the sides face off on Nov. 4.
He was excellent here, took his goal superbly and fully deserved his ovation from supporters who had started the night jeering him.
He’s got a pretty big game to prepare for at the weekend against Barcelona, but when Liverpool go to the Spanish capital, all eyes will be on Ronaldo (and he likes to perform when that’s the case).
The Mario Balotelli Question May Never Be Solved
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Rodgers said post-match that his decision to substitute Mario Balotelli at half-time was a tactical one, per Eurosport.com—and the Italian didn’t do anything especially wrong in the first 45 minutes to be given any stinging criticism—but if these tactics were in Rodgers’ mind, then why did he start with him?
The notion of a front three of Raheem Sterling, Coutinho and Adam Lallana had gained a lot of support from Liverpool fans before the match—including Jamie Carragher—and the movement and energy that those three produced would probably have caused Real more problems in the first half than the actual side, which included Balotelli.
All of which asks the question: Where does that leave the forward’s status at the club?
Stories like his swapping of shirts with Pepe are always going to create headlines, but there might soon come a point when Liverpool find themselves sick of those tales.
If Daniel Sturridge was fit, then we might be seeing the new signing left on the sidelines from the start already.
Raphael Varane Might Be the Best Centre-Back in the World
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Tall, powerful, imposing and strong. All right, Raphael Varane might not have had the toughest night of his career here, but everything that he had to do was done impeccably.
The young Frenchman is every inch the modern centre-back, and a player whom Rodgers must wish that he had at his disposal, given the problems his defenders once again experienced—troubles which have now become chronic.
But All Is Not Lost for Liverpool
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Liverpool’s only good news of the night arrived from Bulgaria, where Ludogorets’ 1-0 win over Basel has kept alive the notion that this group is all about which team can scrap their way into second place.
So long as Real Madrid just keep beating everyone—which they surely will do to Liverpool at the Bernabeu—then it’ll just become a shootout for who can claim second, with the Reds’ last match of the group stage at home to Basel shaping up to be the pivotal one.
