Real Madrid vs. Liverpool: Lessons Learned from Champions League Game
The hammering that many predicted never materialised, but a much-changed Liverpool still ended up losing in Madrid, where Karim Benzema grabbed the only goal for the European champions.
Real Madrid won 1-0 thanks to the first-half strike from the Frenchman, but the hosts spent the majority of the night frustrated by the travelling side, who just couldn’t turn possession into a goal threat.
Brendan Rodgers had sparked a fierce debate pre-match when he made eight changes from the side which lost 3-0 to Real at Anfield, including leaving out Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling and Mario Balotelli, but his charges did the Northern Irishman proud despite the defeat.
Here are some lessons we learned from the game.
Liverpool Refused to Be “The Clowns at the Circus”
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As Jose Mourinho put it recently when talking to Gary Neville of The Telegraph about his side going to Anfield at the end of last season, Liverpool refused to be seen as “the clowns at the circus” here, despite so much debate about the team that Rodgers had selected.
You can rest assured that the memes, the Vines and the tweets were all ready to be sent in the wake of a heavy defeat for the Reds, but right from the beginning they showed their willingness to stay tight and refused to be overrun by the European champions—who were only showing one change from their Anfield walkover.
Liverpool still lost here, and that shouldn’t be forgotten, but they still have a chance to progress in the Champions League, and given their recent form this really was a night full of more positives than negatives. As ITV pundit Paul Scholes said post-match, this was their best performance for weeks.
Kolo Toure Comes to the Fore and Can Do so Again
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Chief among the subjects of those pre-match tweets was Kolo Toure, a player who made a couple of high-profile errors in his first season with Liverpool last year, but it mustn’t be forgotten that he actually provided a welcome dose of solidity at times.
The Ivorian isn’t the comic character that many make him out to be, and right now he looks a safer bet at the back than the somewhat broken Dejan Lovren.
Toure did enough here to earn more starts, beginning with the Chelsea game at the weekend.
Lucas Leiva Can Still Make an Impact
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Ahead of Toure, another player making a rare start was the Brazilian Lucas Leiva, the key casualty of Steven Gerrard’s relocation to defensive midfield and a player whom many expected to have left the Reds by now.
He’s still there though, and his experience here was crucial as he helped what was a very impressive Liverpool midfield protect their side’s back four.
Unlike Gerrard, Lucas is a specialist in this position—arguably the only one at the club—and it is he who can come to fore in intimidating arenas such as this one.
Marcelo Is a Monster
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Real Madrid still won this game, of course, and have won all four in the group this season to make the perfect start to the defence of their crown.
On a night when Cristiano Ronaldo was marshalled well and James Rodriguez struggled to pull the strings, the key figure was left-back Marcelo, a raiding force and a player who has got better and better the older he’s become.
The Brazilian made the goal by bursting down the left and sending over a fierce cross for Benzema, something that he repeated in the second period only for the Frenchman to fire over.
When he’s on this sort of form there are few better left-backs in the world, and Real had to be thankful for him on a night when Simon Mignolet was proving to be a worryingly big barrier to pass.
Karim Benzema Remains Strangely Underrated
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When Liverpool fans look back on their two games with Real Madrid in the past two weeks, the name of Karim Benzema isn’t likely to be one that immediately comes to mind, despite the Frenchman scoring three of the holders’ four goals over the fortnight.
He’s doesn’t necessarily always score the most eye-catching of goals, but his sheer number of them—this was his 121st for Madrid—should ensure that he gets a bigger billing than he actually does.
It’s difficult with Ronaldo around, of course—the Portuguese was denied his record-equalling Champions League goal only by sheer force of Liverpool will—but there are very few better pure No. 9s around than his excellent teammate.
Brendan Rodgers Will Be Relieved
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Make no mistake: This could have gone badly wrong for Brendan Rodgers.
Had either Rodriguez or Ronaldo taken the early chances which came their way, this result could have got embarrassing for the Northern Irishman on a night when he was ripe to be criticised.
In sending out the team he did onto the pitch of the best team in Europe, then, Rodgers was showing remarkable courage but also a remarkable belief in himself.
We all know that the Liverpool manager can come across as somewhat egomaniacal, but this will feel like something of a vindication for him. He might become a better manager for it.
