Speaking on the Wrighty’s House Podcast, Ian Wright has given his verdict on Liverpool having to play in the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano in the Champions League last week.
Real Madrid have been forced to play outside of the Bernabeu due to ongoing renovations at the stadium, meaning that they’ve had to play at their B team’s ground.
As you can imagine, the experience of playing a Champions League quarter-final at a 6,000 capacity stadium can be quite jarring, and Wright believes that it was an issue for the Reds.
“I watched the Liverpool game, obviously it wasn’t at the Bernabeu, but the way they lost there, and I’m not blaming it on there, but I just feel like for me if I’m playing in that game against that team, arguably the greatest team in the Champions League, something’s not right man,” Wright said.
“I’m not feeling that for Liverpool at all, I really feel that it was a massive step down in this climate, it was the Champions League, a quarter-final, playing against Real Madrid and playing in a B stadium, there was no fans, I didn’t like it personally.”
Wright isn’t the only person to have this view.
Indeed, Jurgen Klopp mentioned the surroundings straight after the first leg, claiming that it was a strange experience and it made things difficult for his team.
“This was strange tonight because it was really difficult with the stadium, but Anfield is at least a proper stadium and it will be good for us,” Klopp said.
Luckily, Liverpool have a chance to put things right on Wednesday as they get to play the reverse tie at Anfield, but with a two-goal deficit to overcome, it’s bound to be a tough task for the Reds.
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