Liverpool suffered a heavy 5-2 defeat against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 clash on Tuesday night.
Goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah gave Jürgen Klopp’s side a dream start inside Anfield, before things fell apart in catastrophic fashion.
As a result, the travelling Real Madrid fans seemingly felt almost sympathetic for the Reds, based on what they chanted at full-time.
What’s the story?
Well – according to James Pearce of The Athletic – Real Madrid fans could be heard chanting “Liverpool” while also clapping the home supporters at the end of Tuesday evening’s Champions League Round of 16 encounter.
Whether they would have done the same had they been on the receiving end of a 5-2 defeat feels unlikely, although it was nice to see some respect from one fantastic set of supporters to another, regardless of the result.
Nevertheless, Liverpool fans won’t take any comfort from this, and why should they? Some may even feel slightly patronised.
Just a matter of months ago, the Reds were arguably the better side at the Stade de France as they pushed Real Madrid hard in the Champions League final, only to be denied time and time again by an inspired Thibaut Courtois.
Now, Liverpool look a shadow of that team who nearly secured a treble in Paris, and it will take a remarkable performance inside the Santiago Bernabeu to overturn Tuesday evening’s disaster.
Liverpool must look at Real Madrid
In our view, Liverpool need to take inspiration from how Real Madrid have revamped their ageing side.
Both sides possess experienced players such as Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Jordan Henderson and James Milner.
While Real Madrid have actively moved to sign fresh legs such as Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga and Federico Valderde to help the likes of Modric and Kroos remain competitive, Liverpool have not.
Klopp has instead relied far too much on his creaking options – you could also include Fabinho – and as a result, his side have lost a significant amount of intensity.
In terms of keeping a squad competitive without performing major surgery on it, Real Madrid have set the standard.
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