Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool were caught out in the cold as they fell victim to the world-class talent of Cristiano Ronaldo and co. when Real Madrid's Galacticos came to town and left their mark.
After a promising first 15 minutes, in which there was plenty of tempo and intensity from the home side, but after they took their foot off the gas a little - Madrid were there to pounce, and it was that man Ronaldo who took advantage. With 22 minutes on the clock, he exchanged sublime passes with James Rodriguez before the Colombian played a wonderful lifted ball into the no.7's path and the ex-Manchester United flicked an early effort beyond Simon Mignolet to open the scoring.
From there on in, the Reds looked crushed and nine minutes later found themselves 2-0 down. After they struggled to deal with the aftermath of a corner, as the fantastic Toni Kroos found Karim Benzema at the far post who leapt high to direct a well-placed looping header up and over Mignolet into the far corner. The Frenchman doubled his tally within 10 minutes, latching upon poor defending and a Mignolet mistake to stab home from Pepe's flick from close-range.
The Reds may have gone into the break with some hope, but Phil Coutinho's 25-yard strike came back off the post after it had surprised Casillas. The game was all but gone at half-time, despite Carlo Ancelotti and Liverpool's history and a certain night in Istanbul back in 2005. Mario Balotelli was brought off during the interval and they looked silkier with Adam Lallana on in his place. The quick first-touch passing was there and they were much more threatening in the final third, but ultimately struggled to muster any real dangerous effort on target.
Madrid meanwhile, return to Spain with real confidence ahead of El Clasico on Saturday. They were threatening with every counter-attack, the promising Isco excelling even with Gareth Bale on the sidelines. Raphael Varane stepped into Sergio Ramos' shoes too, and never looked out of place despite being just 21-years-old. Ancelotti's side looked every inch the European champions they became when they lifted La Decima a few months ago, and it's not too out of reach for them to retain the trophy - particularly on this form. For Rodgers' Reds, it was a cruel wake up call. The Champions League has moved on in their absence, and with three group games remaining they have a lot of work to do to qualify. Here's five things we learned from Wednesday night's comfortable 0-3 win for the visitors.
1. There's a serious gulf in quality between Liverpool and the best.
Going into the game, there was a real hope, a real belief, that the Reds could spring a surprise. Many a time before, the best teams in Europe have fallen victim to a bouncing atmosphere at Anfield and a performance on the pitch tonight - despite their start, Liverpool were reminded that they are well away from challenging in Europe. Five years away from the competition has taken it's toll, and the lack of experience in the Reds' side was shown as Ancelotti's star-studded side rolled them over on home turf. After the superb opening goal, Liverpool were left shellshocked and found themselves 0-3 down before they could pick themselves back up. They didn't make as many defensive errors as they have in previous performances, but against a team like Real - mistakes are always going to be taken advantage of, and they were. Karim Benzema was clinical with his two chances, and though Ronaldo's opener was virtually unstoppable, Brendan Rodgers' side certainly shot themselves in the foot a little. It leaves them in a precarious position in the group. With a -3 goal difference they need to keep the score down at the Bernabeu before they face a tough trip to Ludogorets and a decisive final game at home to Basel, whom they also lost to. The Reds have thrived in difficult situations before, but this time is different. They're struggling to adapt to Balotelli's style, whilst Sturridge is a huge loss up-front and they can ill-afford to rely on 19-year-old Raheem Sterling. Liverpool still have a number of good players, but not too many have really proved themselves on the European stage and they need to do that in the next three games.
2. Brendan Rodgers isn't all perfect.
Whilst the headlines have been dominated by Balotelli's shirt-swapping before half-time debacle, the real story should be the deficiencies of Brendan Rodgers. By no means is the Ulsterman a poor manager, as he showed last season, figureheading an exciting attacking young side to 2nd in the league, but you certainly get the impression the duo of Sturridge and Suárez masked problems further back for the Ulsterman. Defensive issues have continue to come a cropper, but as it's been pointed out - all the club's defenders have proved themselves to be talented enough to rise to the occasion previously, so are the errors a little more intrinsic? The Reds' failures to defend a set-piece have become increasingly crippling, but they've always been lurking in the distance. Countless times under Rodgers, individual errors have hurt them, but there's also a real disorganisation and lack of communication in the back-line for at least the past 18 months. Liverpool have now kept just one clean sheet in the last 18, against Spurs when Mamadou Sakho partnered Dejan Lovren, and considering the fixtures they've faced - that's not good enough. Lovren, bought for £20 million in the summer, has been poor so far, despite not receiving the criticism that a scapegoated Balotelli has received. Rodgers has failed to teach his side how to actually defend and further forward, he's yet to find a system that gets the best out of Balotelli - who he doesn't really seem to fancy, it must be said. There's no crisis at Anfield, but there's a growing storm and Rodgers has some big, big decisions to make to ensure there's a silver lining that comes out of it.
3. Phil Coutinho is steadily finding his form.
By far the best player on the pitch in a red shirt, Coutinho backed up his performance at Loftus Road on the weekend to show that he's finding the groove to get the best out of his game. Early on into the season, the Brazilian playmaker struggled to assert himself in games, lacking the spark and incisive passing that he is renowned for. At home to the European Champions however, it was a different story as the 22-year-old came out of his shell and shone in the final third. He showed pace, purpose and flair throughout - more often that not beating his man and always looking to find that eye of the needle pass to slice open Los Blancos' defence. He also came closest to scoring for the hosts, with a magnificent out of the blue shot from outside the box shortly before half-time. He was unlucky to see it rebound off the post, and was too unfortunate to be brought off with 23 minutes remaining, but quite rightly has been called up for Brazil's next international games for the third consecutive break as a result of his fine form. It's clear that his confidence is growing and his early withdrawal suggests he will play a big part in the game against Hull this weekend, and he'll have to if the Reds are to get anything from the game. They've been lacking in the final third for much of the season, but Coutinho getting back to his best can only be good for Rodgers and his men.
4. They need to find a system that works.
As aforementioned, other than a 0-3 away win at Spurs earlier in the campaign where the diamond was effectively utilised, Rodgers has yet to find a side that makes the most out of a sole striker, be it Balotelli or Sturridge. The diamond is the way forward seemingly, but without Sturridge - Fabio Borini failed to impress alongside the Italian - West Ham and Rickie Lambert hasn't been given enough of an opportunity to make any real impact. As a result, the Merseyside club are suffering. The current systems don't suit anyone, and they're lacking in all departments, but for the most part it's a nucleus of players that succeeded at an elite level last season. Whilst some players are notably underperforming, Rodgers is too to blame. 4-2-3-1, 4-3-2-1, 4-3-3 or otherwise have all failed to work, but rather than try the 4-1-2-1-2 with Borini or Balotelli for an extended length of time and give it a real test, Rodgers has employed a sole striker system that sees the Italian left up top alone with no real support, hence the wild shooting from range. Sterling is the only player that has really performed, despite a few performances that showed tiredness and Coutinho and Lallana beginning to find their feet again. Against Madrid, it was the same old, same old. Though Rodgers did try to experiment with Sterling up top, which certainly worked, it was too little, too late. Quite how Liverpool will line up against Hull on Saturday, it's unknown, but something is going to have to change if the performances are going to get back to last season's.
5. Liverpool need a new fear factor.
Last season, the Reds ran riot largely through the fact that their opponents mindset was that they would be up against it for the full 90 minutes. Right from the off, an attacking whirlwind would sweep them off their feet and before they knew it, they could be a few goals behind. Rodgers took advantage of that and particularly on home turf, opponents were beaten before the game even began. Why? Because Luis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge were virtually unstoppable. Unpredictable. Unrelenting. Uncontainable. Working in tandem, the two could blow away defences and they were the figureheads of Liverpool's scintillating starts and their high-pressing, all energy, all action system. The Reds defended from the front and Suárez' undying passion, will to win and sheer skill combined with Sturridge's flair, pace and eye for goal went hand in hand. This season, their uncharacteristically flat front has seen them struggle all over the pitch. Teams were scared of facing Liverpool this season. They never knew what to expect and no matter how good they were going forward, the Reds were better. This season, they are predictable. They're less fluid. That one-touch quick passing zipping in and around the defender's area has disappeared. That interchanging front-line, it's pace, power, flair and pressing led them to victories single-handedly. Now, Mario Balotelli cuts a disinterested figure up front and for all his early impressions, the Italian is now bearing a lot of frustration out of the home support. He splits opinion, that's for sure, but the general consensus is that he hasn't done enough to justify his move. Though he's not been helped by poor service, a lack of a strike partner, a poor system and a lack of support from his own boss. That fear factor, it's lost. The Reds have become somewhat shambolic in that their "all for one, one for all" attitude that saw them fight through so many games last season has gone, and Balotelli, for all his rare brilliance, has failed to inspire massively. Rather than turning up to Anfield expecting to concede a few, it's become too easy for opponents to pick out loopholes in the system and exploit them. Until opponents start to fear facing the Reds, the bad results will continue.