Alessandro Del Piero believes Real Madrid were far superior to a Liverpool side with “so many problems” during their 3-1 Champions League quarter-final victory in the Spanish capital, speaking to Sky Italia.
If you’re going to make a catalogue of individual errors at this stage of Europe’s premier club competition, you’re unlikely to escape unscathed.
And that’s exactly the fate that befell Liverpool in Valdebebas as Zinedine Zidane’s side put their English opponents to the sword last night.
Only a few months after he came oh-so close to joining Swansea City on loan, Nat Phillips’ lack of experience at the top level was ruthlessly exposed, choking on Vinicius Jr’s dust as the Brazil international opened the scoring midway through the first half.
A misplaced Trent Alexander-Arnold header gifted Marco Asensio a second and, after Mo Salah’s consolation had given Liverpool some semblance of hope, Vinicius wrapped up a 3-1 win after Alisson Becker spilled his close-range daisy-cutter into the bottom corner.
“Real were superior, even in the defensive phase,” said Del Piero, the Juventus legend, via TMW. “I saw that while admitting Liverpool had so many problems.”
They may be 31 and 35 respectively but, once again, the evergreen Toni Kroos and Luka Modric rolled back the years on the biggest of stages. They dominated the midfield battle as Fabinho, Gini Wijnaldum and Naby Keita spent the evening chasing white-clad shadows.
“The tranquility with which Kroos, Modric and Casemiro play is embarrasing. That pass from Kroos on the first goal…,” Del Piero adds.
“Quality, attitude, nastiness… Asensio, when matches count, he always scores. We know how special the Champions League is for Real and they are at ease on European soil.”
Salah’s strike at least gives Liverpool some hope of repeating that stunning comeback against Barcelona in 2019 when Real arrive at Anfield.
But if Jurgen Klopp’s inconsistent, injury-hit side perform on Merseyside like they did in Madrid, they can kiss their hopes of a seventh European crown goodbye.
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