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DOMINIC KING: After Liverpool threatened to blow them up, Real Madrid inflicted HUMILIATION on Jurgen Klopp and his team… the Reds boss looked like a man whose bank account was being emptied before his eyes.
Anfield have seen many remarkable nights, but none have been as crazy, or as damaging, as the one that left this stadium silent.
From Liverpool’s early promise to sweep Real Madrid with one of the hurricanes they have been synonymous with, to a two-goal lead thanks to Darwin Núñez and Mohamed Salah, their house came crashing down from the effects of a Spanish tornado.
On a greasy pitch that had players on both sides struggling to stay on their feet and made you wonder if the field staff had left the sprinklers on too long, Madrid finally found their footing and inflicted humiliation on Jurgen Klopp and his equipment.
Real has never been talked about with the affection reserved for the Barcelona of Lionel Messi and friends, but in the last nine years it has established itself as the biggest club in the history of the Champions League.
With five wins since 2014, two of them masterminded by Carlo Ancelotti, they are to be revered, especially with an individual as swift, skilled and determined as the magnificent Vinicius Junior, whose run and finish broke Liverpool’s hearts.
Anfield have seen many remarkable nights, but none have been as crazy, or as damaging, as the one that left this stadium silent in what was a sobering experience for Liverpool.
It had all started so well that the Reds took a 2-0 lead thanks to Darwin Núñez and Mo Salah.
Real Madrid and Vinicius Junior, who was absolutely excellent at Anfield, are to be revered.
He took away the most coveted trophy in Paris last May, his goal settled the final, and the Brazilian with dynamite in his boots may well have closed an era with what he did to Liverpool here. Sometimes you just couldn’t play.
Yes, there were mistakes that helped him – Alisson Becker, Liverpool’s player of the season, inexplicably gifted him with his second goal on 36 minutes – but you had to sit back and marvel at Vinicius every time he began to gallop. at speed.
Klopp, not for the first time this season, looked like a man whose bank account was being emptied before his eyes and no wonder.
A victory he hoped would provide a launch for the rest of the campaign and fiery dreams of going to Istanbul turned into a nightmare.
From 2-0 to 2-5 down, it was hard to think of a more sobering experience for Liverpool in Europe in the modern era.
The closest comparison one could make was losing 5-1 to a Johan Cruyff-inspired Ajax in 1966, but that was inflicted in Amsterdam.
It will be a long road back for Klopp and his players. There may be another 90 minutes to play at the Bernabeu, but that will simply be a box-ticking exercise. Real Madrid, the master of Europe, will not make mistakes.
Klopp, not for the first time this season, looked like a man whose bank account was being emptied before his eyes and no wonder.
It’s hard to think of a more sobering experience for Liverpool in Europe in the modern era.