Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp conceded his side were second best against Real Madrid following their meek exit from the Champions League on Wednesday.
Karim Benzema’s 78th-minute goal gave the hosts a 1-0 victory on the night but all the damage had been done in the first leg, which Liverpool lost 5-2.
“It’s true. We came here with the backpack we had with the three goals difference, and you need a special performance and we did not show a special performance tonight,” he said.
“In moments it was a good performance but Real Madrid were the team in control for most of the game. They had the better chances.
“Ali [goalkeeper Alisson Becker] had to make two sensational saves to keep us in the game and that’s the reason [we lost].
“If you want to get through, you need to be outstanding. If you want to win the game, you need to be really good, and Madrid was the better team and that’s why the right team went through to the next round.”
Real Madrid v Liverpool ratings
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REAL MADRID RATINGS: Thibaut Courtois – 7. Made some strong saves to deny Nunez and Gakpo and came out to collect balls well. Recovered after dropping Robertson’s free-kick delivery. AP -
Dani Carvajal – 6. Got himself out of trouble after a mistake and went on to do a good job defensively, even if he did needlessly concede a corner with a bizarre header. AP -
Eder Militao – 7. Put in a strong display after getting away with a poor pass, notably cutting out Salah’s pass in a dangerous position. AP -
Antonio Rudiger – 7. Clumsy in the build-up to Liverpool’s early chance but was often in the right place after that. Had some promising moments going forward with a header to Vinicius before making a good run and pass to Nacho. AFP -
Nacho Fernandez – 7. Stretched by Salah at times but put in a determined display to ensure Los Blancos kept a clean sheet. Reuters -
Luka Modric – 8. Smashed a rocket over the crossbar but was his usual elegant self, notably flicking the ball over Alexander-Arnold’s head and delivering a brilliant cross for Valverde. PA -
Eduardo Camavinga – 9. Brilliant to watch in the middle of the pitch with some lovely passing, including the ball that split Liverpool open for the goal. Unlucky to see his shot from range tipped onto the crossbar. Reuters -
Toni Kroos – 7. Played a couple of poor passes when there were opportunities to play the forwards through but helped the hosts control large parts of the game. PA -
Federico Valverde – 5. Wasteful in promising positions, with some disappointing shots being denied, an underwhelming cross being blocked by Van Dijk and a header going over. Did show plenty of energy. PA -
Karim Benzema – 7. Had some disappointing moments but eventually came good when he poked the ball home for the winner on the night. AFP -
Vinicius Junior – 7. Played some great passes to get Benzema into promising positions, even if his ball for the goal wasn’t quite as eye catching. Brought out some lovely tricks. Getty -
SUBS: Rodrygo (Benzema 82’) – N/R. Did well to get into the box but ultimately saw his shot blocked by Tsimikas. Reuters -
Dani Ceballos (Modric 82’) – N/R. Looked very confident and played the ball through for Lucas Vazquez to tee up Rodrygo for his chance. AP -
Marco Asensio (Vinicius 84’) – N/R. Came on late as Real Madrid comfortably saw out the game. Getty -
Aurelien Tchouameni (Kroos 84’) – N/R. Slotted into the midfield as Real maintained control for most of the latter stages. Getty -
Lucas Vazquez (Carvajal 86’) – N/R. Did well to get into the box and tee up Rodrygo for his chance. Getty -
LIVERPOOL RATINGS: Alisson Becker – 8. Made superb saves to deny Vinicius and Camavinga, before rushing out to authoritatively halt Valverde. There was nothing he could do about the goal. AFP -
Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6. Showed ambition with his passes, even if they didn’t always come off. Had a tough task defending against Vinicius, although he showed great defensive instincts to block Benzema’s shot. EPA -
Ibrahima Konate – 7. Started well with a couple of good early interventions and continued to have strong moments throughout. Hit a wild shot on the turn. AP -
Virgil van Dijk – 6. Did brilliantly to cut out Valverde’s ball but it can be argued he wasn’t alert enough for the goal. PA -
Andrew Robertson – 6. Could consider himself unlucky at times, having delivered some great crosses that nobody latched onto and lost control after cutting out Militao’s pass. Reuters -
Fabinho – 5. Played some sloppy passes at times, as was epitomised when he delivered an overhit cross when there were plenty of red shirts in Real’s box. AP -
James Milner – 6. Showed plenty of energy and flew out to make blocks, as well as putting in a big tackle on Camavinga. However, he couldn’t do enough to get Liverpool going. EPA -
Cody Gakpo – 6. Put in a lot of good defensive work to help the team, including dispossessing Benzema in his own box, but couldn’t get a clean connection on his header and saw a strong shot saved. AP -
Mohamed Salah – 6. Slipped Nunez through for an early chance and made some good runs behind, but played a terrible pass to Nunez in a dangerous position. EPA -
Diogo Jota – 3. His miskicked effort from a cross into the box was poor and he often looked off the pace. AFP -
Darwin Nunez – 6. Showed a willingness to work but was unable to take his early chance and saw a header saved. AFP -
SUBS: Harvey Elliott (Jota 57’) – 6. Tried to make things happen and was central to a nice piece of link-up play but also saw a tame shot blocked. PA -
Roberto Firmino (Nunez 57’) – 5. Willing to work for the team but never truly looked like making a notable difference. Getty -
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (Milner 73’) – N/R. His expression after being unable to reach Robertson’s through ball epitomised Liverpool’s desperate situation. Getty -
Kostas Tsimikas (Robertson 91’) – N/R. Had an eventful cameo, blocking Rodrygo’s shot and being the topic of a lengthy VAR check when the ball subsequently hit his arm, then getting booked for catching Ceballos in the face with his hand. Getty -
Fabio Carvalho (Gakpo 91’) – N/R. Had a less eventful cameo with the game gone. PA
Klopp loaded his side with attacking talent, with Diogo Jota complementing Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez.
The gamble failed to pay off though, with Nunez, who had their best two chances in the first half, and Jota shortly after half time.
“For Diogo it was clear he shouldn’t play extremely long as he is still coming back from a long, long injury and you could see the game got harder for him,” Klopp said.
“He made some fouls as he was coming late, so no risk for him. Darwin looked like he was not at the absolute top level as well and we needed to defend that side as well. We could change and we wanted to mix things up a bit.”
Title-holders Real Madrid join AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Manchester City and Napoli in Friday's Champions League quarter-final draw.
