When the dust settled after the whirlwind Real Madrid had whipped up in their 5-2 victory over Liverpool, the overriding feeling was that Carlo Ancelotti’s men had only served to hasten the inevitable.
Questions have been asked of Jurgen Klopp’s team ever since their stuttering start to the campaign and although at times the noise surrounding Liverpool’s problems has quietened to a hum — not least after back-to-back Premier League wins with clean sheets to boot which took them into this Champions League round-of-16 tie on a relative high — there has been a sense of something coming to an end throughout.
End-of-an-era talk may be premature, but Madrid showed Liverpool that there’s no time to stop when you’re at the top. Being dynamic and constantly evolving is key to maintaining a place at the top table. A stumble, ill-considered move or simply treading water can prove costly at such a level.
After the bruising ending to last season — when Liverpool’s quadruple quest ended with an admirable, albeit underwhelming, double — it was the deflating finale and energy-sapping efforts that have traipsed their way into this campaign more than anything else. A hangover, some said, but instead Liverpool have looked punch drunk too often this term.
Trying to repair an airplane while it’s flying is one of the monikers Klopp has used in the past when making it known how Liverpool have had to fix themselves on the hoof. But now the flaws are becoming harder to ignore, the vulnerabilities too pronounced not to think about the bigger picture and that greater changes are needed — a full valeting on the cards.
And then Madrid came to Anfield. The rematch of last season’s final, a game overshadowed by the off-pitch ordeal many suffered and have been scared by, was also going to be full of emotion. The question marks hung over Liverpool, it felt like a season condensed into 90 minutes. Liverpool did indeed show their all in this historic humiliation.
Madrid sending Liverpool to their heaviest defeat in European competition, scoring five at his storied ground, was only the half of it. That all came after Liverpool arguably played their best half of the season so far, according to Klopp, and scored a great goal too. But whereas Ancelotti’s players barely blinked when they went two goals down in the opening 14 minutes, Liverpool quivered at the first sign of turbulence.
Suddenly the team’s shortcomings that could be pieced together from a season of inconsistencies came to the fore altogether in a 75-minute spell. Madrid were able to waltz through the Liverpool midfield with ease, not even Stefan Bajcetic’s admirable efforts were enough to stop the magnificent Luka Modric.
Joe Gomez was given a torrid evening, his deflection taking the ball past Alisson for Madrid’s fourth goal. The Liverpool ‘keeper, Klopp’s best performer this season, didn’t cover himself in glory when gifting Madrid their equaliser. Then the marking for Eder Militao’s headed third barely required analysis such was the sheer lack of it. Karim Benzema’s too-cool-for-school finish was perhaps a fitting nightcap.
Not only had Liverpool’s defence disappeared by that stage in front of Madrid’s exuberance, so had the attack — mustering little since a goal-mouth scramble that could have changed the course midway through the first half. The sound of “oles” from the away section long before the final whistle, Liverpool chasing shadows, and Modric and Benzema being applauded off by the home crowd told of how outlandishly one-sided this all turned out to be.
But what Madrid’s showing demonstrated more than anything is that for every Modric and Benzema coming to the end of their illustrious careers there’s an Eduardo Camavinga or, particularly, Vinicius Junior ready to step up.
Vinicius single-handedly dragged Madrid back into this tie and then played a large part in the Spanish club taking the contest away from their beleaguered hosts. “Yes,” was Klopp’s one-word reply when asked if Vinicius is one of the best players in the world right now. “Right now he is the most decisive player in world football, the man who can make the most difference,” Ancelotti summarised.
Body and mind were in sync as Madrid came back in a key Champions League match for the umpteenth time in less than a year. “I thought back a bit to the Manchester City semi-final when we were 2-0 down, and that hopefully the same thing could happen,” said Ancelotti. “It turned out even better.”
A proper reinvention is in order for Klopp's Liverpool
That higher plane is something Liverpool can only aspire to currently. It was only nine months ago when these two teams last met in a tight 1-0 and it seems both have moved in completely opposite directions since. It appears that Liverpool will have to properly ‘reinvent’ themselves if they are to rediscover those heights.
Of course, all is not lost this season. Liverpool are seven points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur but with two games in hand. A top-four finish is achievable but hard to imagine given their foibles. It will also not be easy to erase the pain of this defeat.
“I told the boys the result was the opposite of what we wanted but a defeat is a defeat, if you don’t learn from it, and if you don’t learn the start was outstanding and was us in a nutshell so if we allow this one game to be influential we are really silly,” said Klopp, an hour after the final whistle.
“We have a few days when I make sure we take the right things. Yes we have a few things to improve, third goal, massively, first goal massively. But the intensity; the effort; the football was like everything we want so we have to make sure we keep that; 5-2 could be damaging but I have to make sure that is not happening. We have to take the good things as well; that would be horrible if we didn’t.”
The Liverpool manager’s message was telling because it recognised the implications of a game that was not just any other game or any other defeat. It spoke of the task he faces containing the fallout and returning Liverpool to where they have been and want to be. Getting back there will require changes. Madrid showed they are needed now.