Former Liverpool player Peter Crouch says Jurgen Klopp was ‘incredibly disappointed’ by Real Madrid’s third goal this evening.
Madrid scored barely three minutes into the second half, Eder Militao heading home from a simple set-piece. The goal was a crushing blow to Liverpool and one they never really recovered from.
And from what Crouch told BT Sport after the game, it seemed like Jurgen knew that at the time, too.
“I was right behind the dugout and behind Jurgen Klopp and the third goal was the killer really,” said the former Reds striker.
“You can get undone by Benzema, Modric, bits of class, but from a set-piece, quite a simple run. To concede that third goal was the real killer and Jurgen was incredibly disappointed by that and then Real Madrid just took the game away from Liverpool. Camavinga, Modric just had the ability to take the sting out of the game.”
Watching it back, the goal is a simply unforgivable one to concede at this level. From the clumsy challenge by Joe Gomez, to the complete lack of movement from every Liverpool player in the box. From that point onwards, the Reds simply capitulated. Not good enough.
Liverpool – hang your heads in shame
How can you explain a goal like that going in during a game of this magnitude? Yes, Liverpool have been shocking at times this season, but it looked as though they’d turned a corner recently.
But this, this was on a whole new level of bad. To call it schoolboy defending would be to do a disservice to school children around the country.
Not a single Liverpool player reacts to Militao’s run across the six-yard box. That isn’t a talent issue or a quality issue, that’s a confidence and concentration issue.
With the second-half barely a couple of minutes old and the game very much still in the balance, Liverpool couldn’t afford to switch off.
Unfortunately, switch off is exactly what they did. In truth, they never once switched back on again.
Three quickly turned to four and quickly turned to five. The only mercy in the end being that the damage done wasn’t greater. Jurgen has every right to be furious with what he saw from his team in this crucial moment of the game. But given his complete lack of reaction to it in terms of substitutions, he looked like he knew the jig was up.
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