Losing any match at home in the knockout phase of the Champions League would be a big blow, but losing the first leg 5-2 reduces pretty much means it’s game over.Liverpool raced into a 2-0 lead against Real Madrid, only to concede five goals and end up on the wrong side of a major thrashing. All they can do in the return match in Spain is to search the impossible.The Reds defender Virgil Van Dijk admitted his team needs a miracle to make it to the quarter-final.”We are 5-2 down and have an almost impossible task to turn it around in Madrid. But football is full of miracles and let’s hope we can pull off a miracle. We should have been more composed and calm in our possession, but, yeah, there was nothing wrong with the performance in my opinion. We didn’t give many chances away, but in the end with the quality they have, they punish you, properly.”Carragher’s reaction to #LiverpoolRealMadrid pic.twitter.com/S2Rzo6gf9r— usain (@us_ain) February 22, 2023 Captain Jordan Henderson insisted the result is hard to digest and also bemoaned his side’s errors.”It’s very difficult to sum it up straight after the game. We’re disappointed and frustrated with the result, but for large parts of the first half, definitely, I felt we performed well. We were probably unlucky to go in at half-time level, but we made too many mistakes and when you do a team like Madrid punish you and they punished us every time tonight.”Steven Gerrard, who listed the Champions League trophy with Liverpool in 2005, hailed the greatness of Real Madrid stars Karim Benzema and Luka Modric, and bemoaned the number of individual mistakes made by his former team.”I think it’s a reality check. They got off to the perfect start, exactly what you need on a European night – start fast, get yourself in front, build on it. But for any club if you concede five goals there has to be an inquest into why and how. I think what you need to understand is that against high-class opposition you can’t make individual errors. You have to defend well from set plays. They have to defend an awful lot better than they did at Anfield.”##NAJAVA_MECA_7041332##And former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher blasted his old club for being terrible in defence all season. All the mistakes are now catching up with Jurgen Klopp’s side.”That was shambolic from Liverpool. Embarrassing. We’ve made excuses for them all season, the reasons why they’re not doing as well as they have done in previous seasons, but that was a disgrace that second half. And what I’m talking about in terms of being shambolic, I’m talking about defensively shambolic all season.”UCL: Los Blancos’ demolition of Anfield! Real Madrid score historic five and turn it all around against the RedsThe Reds are looking nowhere near as good as a year ago. The injury to Roberto Firmino and the sale of Sadio Mane made a scar on the team’s shape – and they’re paying the price.Klopp’s post-match comments were probably the most sincere.”Thank God we don’t play Madrid every week.”
