Liverpool failed to capitalise on the absence of Sergio Ramos and Raphaël Varane for the first leg Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid as the Reds suffered a 3-1 defeat on Tuesday.
Vinícius Júnior, who came into this tie scoring only one goal in all competitions since October, scored a brace and Marco Asensio also got his name on the scoresheet.
In their match report and player ratings, L’Equipe were not kind towards the Reds after suggesting Los Blancos ‘didn’t have to be fantastic’ to inflict defeat on the Merseyside club.
The French newspaper further highlights how the Brazilian was successful in troubling the opposition defence, in particular Nathaniel Phillips and Trent Alexander-Arnold. The latter’s error allowed Asensio to score Real Madrid’s second goal of the match.
Naby Keita was so poor in the midfield that Jürgen Klopp had to replace him with Thiago Alcântara even before the break.
L’Equipe gave a rating of 6/10 to Georginio Wijnaldum and that’s the highest rating given to a Liverpool player. Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson were behind the Dutchman, as they received a rating of 5/10.
The right-back’s error for Asensio’s goal ‘tarnished his performance’, while Kieta ‘never managed’ to contain Toni Kroos, who was influential for Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Regarding Phillips, who received the lowest rating, L’Equipe state the defender ‘went through a real ordeal’.
Over at AS, they issue a mild warning by stating: ‘It is advisable not to bet against Madrid when the Champions League anthem sounds, which is the soundtrack of their life’.
After going 2-0 down at half-time, Liverpool started the second half on a brighter note and Salah even managed to pull one back for his side.
However, they ‘continued to appear as an inattentive team, somehow distracted, without the tension of the event. Otherwise, it is not explained that he ended up conceding the third goal after a throw-in’.
AS were highly critical of Liverpool players and handed two stars [out of five] to only Fabinho and Thiago.
Robertson, Phillips, Salah, Diogo Jota and Sadio Mané were given a single star, while blank ratings were handed to Keita, Ozan Kabak, Alexander-Arnold and Alisson Becker.
In Marca’s player ratings, Keita, Kabak and Phillips received blanks, while Wijnaldum, Salah and Jota received two stars. The rest of them were handed a rating of one star.
The return leg of the quarter-final tie will be played at Anfield on April 14th.
If Liverpool replicate similar performances to what they displayed on Tuesday, they are likely to get knocked out of the competition.
