LIVERPOOL -- The pre-match entertainment was seductively good. They were playing the tape of one of Anfields greatest European nights as an appetiser. Liverpools television channel broadcast a favourite programme, replaying the 2009 night they beat the mighty Real Madrid 4-0. And that, frankly, represented the highlight of Liverpools evening. After the nostalgia, the here and now. After one historic humiliation, a record-breaking reverse. Only Alvaro Arbeloa, a winner on both occasions, could savour each thrashing. What a difference five years makes. There has been a seven-goal swing between two teams with 15 European Cups between them since Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres eviscerated Real. It was a time when, according to UEFAs rankings, Liverpool were the finest side in Europe. Now Real are reigning champions. Once again, the gulf between them is as wide as the river Mersey. Liverpool were pummelled by perfectionists, out-passed, outclassed and, after their initial energy rush, outpaced. They were handed their heaviest home defeat in Europe. It almost counted as a merciful release that Real stopped scoring at half-time. After we scored three goals it was a difficult game [for them], said Real manager Carlo Ancelotti, in his news conference and with magnificent understatement. Those goals showed that, if Liverpool were Europes foremost exponents of the counter-attack five years ago that mantle, like Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso in 2009, has been transferred to the Spanish capital. They illustrated, too, that while Rafa Benitez could configure a frugal back four, Brendan Rodgers is yet to acquire the same strategic skills that are especially important in Europe. We conceded a disappointing first goal and the other two were sloppy and loose, Rodgers said. After a 33-year wait for a goal against Liverpool, Real scored three in 18 minutes. Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema were the grateful beneficiaries. A defence that couldnt cope with the worst team in the Premier League predictably struggled against the foremost in Europe. Ronaldos opener was delightful and delectable, Benzemas brace examples of occasions when Liverpools helped fashion chances for a side already blessed with a surfeit of creativity. They didnt have to be at their best to get the goals, in particular the second and third, rued Rodgers. And anything QPR can do, Real can unsurprisingly emulate. They too scored from a corner after the now familiar set- piece panic. Benzema prodded the ball over the line while another inquest began at the back. Ronaldo, who devotes his time to chasing down Rauls records, now only needs one more goal to become the joint highest in the competitions history. Benzema is climbing the leaderboard of Champions League scorers, too, up to 40. He is the unheralded predator, denied the status of a galactico but a predator par excellence. Liverpool couldnt afford the luxury of an out-and-out centre- forward. After their early attempts at pressing, they brought everyone back without the ball in a 4-3-3-0 system and disposed of the supposed specialist altogether in the second half after Mario Balotelli had parted company with his top. He swapped shirts with Pepe after 45 minutes; the shame for Liverpool was that he did not trade goals with Benzema. Rodgers will take disciplinary action against the errant Italian on Thursday, saying We had an incident with a player last year [Mamadou Sakho in Decembers 2-1 defeat at Chelsea] and we dealt with it internally. It is not something I stand for. If you want to do that, you do it at the end of the game. Ever unflustered, Ancelotti shrugged off questions about the shirt-swapping, non-scoring striker. Sometimes players change their shirt at half-time with the opponent, he said. I dont see a problem. In any case, Balotelli did not require his kit for the second half. Rodgers, in a series of pointed comments, praised his replacement for his work rate. Adam Lallana came on and he was tireless, he said. For us the minimum is you need to press and work and Adam came on and did that very well. Balotellis exit was, he claimed, purely tactical and meant Raheem Sterling was reinvented as a false nine for the final 45 minutes, a task he approached bullishly. The teenager shone. He was name-checked by Ancelotti, who deemed him really dangerous but, for all his prodigious promise, the probability is that even Rodgers greatest talent would not get in the Real team. Despite a 117-million spending spree, Liverpool rank alongside Ludogorets and Basel, not the European champions, in a pool where the best and the rest are already separated by six points. The second half finished scoreless but Rodgers praise for his sides display after the break rather ignored the reality the game was gone. Real had Barcelona on their brains, making substitutions designed to save players for Saturdays clasico. Even the rapacious Ronaldo came off, with Ancelotti forced to deny he consulted the winger about the decision. Anfield applauded Ronaldo and Toni Kroos when they were removed. They are used to iconic No. 7s at the club of Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Luis Suarez. They recognised that Ronaldo is something special. Liverpools generosity of spirit was admirable. The generosity of defending represents a problem that refuses to go away.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 05:59:59 +0000
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