‘It seemed they didn’t believe’: Rio Ferdinand disappointed by Liverpool’s poor Champions League outing as Jurgen Klopp’s side struggled to create chances in second leg loss against Real Madrid
- Rio Ferdinand has questioned Liverpool’s determination against Real Madrid
- The Premier League team had a weak performance against the Spanish giants.
- The great end of Karim Benzema left Liverpool out of the Champions League
Rio Ferdinand has expressed his disappointment over Liverpool’s Champions League second leg against Real Madrid, in which the Reds were knocked out of the competition.
Reigning European champions Madrid secured a safe passage to the quarter-final stage of the tournament after Karim Benzema’s late goal secured a 6-2 aggregate defeat for the Premier League side.
All the pre-match hype was focused on Liverpool trying to produce a Champions League miracle like the one that saw them stun Barcelona in 2019.
It wasn’t that though and instead was a display of limp that left Ferdinand labeling Jurgen Klopp’s side ‘flat’ and questioning whether they ‘believed’ they could return to the tie after their 5-2 hammering. in the first leg, saying: ‘This never turned out to be the game we really hoped for.
‘We expected a fast and hectic start and put ourselves under pressure. they didn’t seem to believe they could win this before a ball was kicked around,’ Ferdinand told BT Sport.
Liverpool fell to a disappointing Champions League elimination against Real Madrid
The Liverpool players started brightly but faded in the second half as chances of a comeback fizzled out.
‘It was a flat performance overall. He kept saying come out with a sword with all weapons on, but Liverpool might be thinking of putting the handbrake on a bit because we want to stay in the frame to qualify for the Champions League via the Premier League. If we lose this by a big margin, it could affect us on the weekend.
“I think they will be disappointed, coming out of the game where they gave nothing is not enough,” he added.