We waited three years for a chance for payback and THIS is what we got? Absolute fucking shite. What a massive letdown. We probably shouldn’t be surprised as revenge is not something that this team does well. You only have to go back to the insipid surrender against the Blueshite the other week to see that.
With this being the Champions League though I really expected better. I had high hopes about this game because other than Porto, Real Madrid might be the weakest team we could have been drawn against. The problem is they can say the same about us, and they’d be right based on this. They won EASILY.
We were fucking awful in every single area of the pitch. Not one of the players come out of it with any credit. Not a single one. Everyone was shite and it’s hard to take or understand given the importance of the game. I’d allowed myself to get excited about this one. I was really looking forward to it and believed we’d see a big performance. More fool me, I won’t be making that mistake again.
We started badly and got worse. There was a decent spell just after half time but it didn’t last and we were just well beaten. It’s easy to blame it on the team selection, specifically the surprise inclusion of Keita, but that’s just scapegoating. Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending Keita and if he never played for us again I wouldn't lose a minute's sleep over it, but there was far more to this than just Naby being Naby.
He did nothing whatsoever but he isn’t to blame for the rest of them making the most basic of errors time and time again. If you want to say we’re a worse team when Keita plays and that we always look more open then I’ll agree with you. This shocking performance had very little to do with Keita though.
Whether it was Fabinho and Wijnaldum simply passing the ball straight to Madrid players when under no pressure, Phillips not being aware of players running in behind, Trent ‘assisting’ at the wrong end or the forward players taking four touches to try and get the ball under control only to still fail, this was just one huge collective shitshow. Everyone was crap.
When Real scored the only surprise was it had taken so long. Vinicius Jr was having his own way down the left hand side and we just weren’t dealing with him, which is infuriating because he's shite and we come up against better wide players every other week in the Premier League. The opening goal is mostly on Phillips who needless got sucked into the middle towards Benzema and allowed Vinicius to run off his shoulder onto a ball over the top from Kroos.
Trent should be more aware of that though too, either by screaming at Phillips to warn him or by tracking the run himself. I didn’t think much of Alisson’s attempt to save it either if I’m being honest, although that might be harsh.
The second goal was virtually all on Trent but I thought Ferdinand’s analysis of the role the centre backs had in it had some merit too. Trent’s header was shite and that’s on him, but the ease they were getting behind us with that ball over the top doesn’t bode well for next week. I’m not going to say anything bad about Kabak and Phillips though as what are they, sixth and seventh choice? They’ve done better than anyone has a right to expect from them but this was a bridge too far.
So while I don’t dispute any of the points made by Ferdinand I just can’t bring myself to be pointing the finger at those two lads when we essentially had our first choice players in every other position on the field and THEY WERE ALL FUCKING SHITE. Kabak and Phillips have an excuse. The others don't. Well, tiredness might be one because some of them they do look fucked to be fair to them.
Worst of the bunch was Sadio, who is absolutely fucking hopeless right now. Just genuinely dreadful. His performance here was hideous. He couldn’t do a thing right and it was sad to see. He’s in the mother of all slumps now and looks like a Sunday league player.
It doesn’t help that he’s getting absolutely fuck all from refs either. He was blatantly fouled just before their second goal and it’s staggering that VAR looked at that and said it was ok. I’d be annoyed about it if we hadn’t absolutely deserved to get walloped anyway. That decision stank almost as much as our performance.
Klopp hooked Naby a few minutes before half time and confessed afterwards that it was tactical and Keita just wasn’t in the game. He added that he could have taken a few more off as well. I don’t question the decision at all, but I do wonder why it was done three minutes before the break. Usually you’d just do it at half time as it’s less humiliating to the player. It’s really, really unusual to see a player hooked on 42 minutes. Maybe Klopp felt let down after putting his faith in him? I know the feeling, I was predicting big things from Keita in the group chat when I saw the team. For the record, not one of the lads agreed with me and they were right not to.
Klopp had said Keita got the nod because of how well he’d trained for weeks and because he wanted someone who would dribble and take the game to Madrid. He must have spotted a vulnerability in how they play and he wanted Keita to exploit that. It never happened but I don’t think that’s just Keita’s fault as we never had hold of the ball long enough to build any kind of attack. Keita was no more responsible than anyone else for that, but he was the obvious one that you’d take off. He shouldn't play again. It isn't working and it never will. I'd rather Jones or even Ox got his minutes.
We did improve a bit with Thiago out there, but he was no great shakes either. He picked up another booking (harsh) and didn’t really do anything especially creative. At least he kept the ball though (other than one terrible pass about a minute after he came on) which is more than anyone else could say. Actually that's maybe harsh because the passing in the second half was nowhere near as slack as it was before the break. Gini and Fabinho were much better in the second half but given how bad they were in the first that wasn't difficult.
We got ourselves back in it with a scruffy goal. Jota drove at the defence and then his shot was partially blocked. It fell to Mo who got it stuck under his feet before just about getting a shot away that hit Courtois and went in off the bar. I didn’t celebrate, partly because we’d been so bad I didn’t even feel emotionally invested in it at that point, but mainly because VAR has killed that now. I only celebrate when it’s clear there’s absolutely nothing that needs to be looked at, and this one initially had a faint whiff of offside about it.
If we could have kept it 2-1 then we’d still have a chance of going through but instead we gave away another awful goal. Vinicius was given too much space in the box and Alisson’s attempt at saving a weak shot just wasn’t good enough. Just before that we’d almost conceded from our own corner when somehow we ended up with Thiago as one of only two players back. That can’t happen. He can’t run (and he was carrying a yellow card) so you don’t put him in that situation. It summed up the whole night though. Trent did well to save us there, but he undid that by not being close enough to Vinicious on the goal (Phillips should have been tighter too).
On a completely unrelated note, I wish Alisson would shave that fucking muzzy as I don’t like keepers drawing attention to themselves. I just think it makes them look a cunt when they make mistakes, which Alisson has been prone to doing this season. When you’re winning you can do whatever you like, but with the run we’ve been having I want the players being low profile, not swaggering round like fucking Magnum P.I.
Anyway, at 3-1 we had a fair bit of the ball but did nothing with it as Madrid just saw it out without really breaking sweat. That’s the thing that bothers me. They’re not that good and if we’d played them in either of the previous two seasons we’d have fucking pummelled them. Instead, we play them now and make them look like…. well, Real Madrid. This is the worst side they’ve had in decades but we made them look like Galcticos.
But then we’ve lost to Villa, Everton, Burnley, Fulham, Southampton and a load of other deadbeat teams so it’s hardly surprising that the worst Madrid team in years had their way with us.
We’ll now have to listen to all the “its only half time” and “second leg at Anfield, you never know” rallying talk but I’m not putting any stock in that whatsoever. If Anfield was going to be full I’d still back us to go through, but nah, it’s not happening. We’ve been horrendous at Anfield for months and there is absolutely nothing whatsoever to suggest we have any chance now. It’s over.
I’d like to think we’ll make a fight of it and give them a scare but we’ll get done on a counter attack or by a moment of quality and that will finish us off because our forward line in its current state is not scoring the three or four goals that we’ll need. Not without a packed Anfield roaring them on.
So after next week all that will be left is a demoralising ‘fight for fourth’. I know how important that is and obviously I hope we can do it, but I can’t get excited about it. It’s actually depressing that this is where we find ourselves again, so soon after it looked like we’d be top of the mountain for a good while.
Half the team just looks completely fucked now. Mentally and physically. The hope is that they can recharge their batteries in time for next season and then with crowds back things will return to ‘normal’. It is by no means certain though, especially as some of them will have to play in the Euros.
By the time Robbo comes back for pre-season I’m expecting his legs to be worn down to little nubs as he’s played so much football. As for Sadio, we may as well just let his rest start now and hope he can be back at his best next season, because the way he is right now is no use to anyone. I'd pick Firmino over him now, which says it all.
One thing I do want to see next week though is Milner starting. He needs to play as he brings the intensity that we don’t have without him or Hendo in there. In hindsight, he should have played this game.
Star man is nobody. Easiest decision of the season.
Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Kabak (Shaqiri), Robertson; Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Keita (Thiago); Salah, Jota (Firmino), Mané:
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