Real Madrid Performances

First fixture:  In a summary, Liverpool were very lucky to escape from Anfield conceding just three goals. Ronaldo, James Rodriguez, Modric and all of the other big name stars proved just how big a disance Liverpool have fallen since their last champions league experience five years ago. There was a lot of emphasis on the poor recent performances of the defence as well as the lack of leadership and confidence from Mignolet. All of these points were clear when Real Madrid hit their third goal just before half time as Mignolet the last line of defence foolishly came about five yards off his line to allow Benzema to tap home a moment later. The whole team was overshadowed and taught a very strict footballing lesson by possibly the best team in the world at the moment.
The scary thing to think about was that, this match took place at Anfield, what would be awaiting Liverpool on the 4th November at the Bernabeu? A far cry from the 2009 fixture which saw Liverpool cruise past Madrid with a 4-0 victory with goals from Torres, Gerrard and Dossena. The only positive Liverpool could take from the night would be a Ludogorets victory over Basel leaving them with the hope of making it past the group stages.


Second fixture: A weak starting eleven announced by Rodgers sending the 'Liverpool twittersphere' into anarchy. Criticising Rodger's and claiming he has given up before the first whistle, was he resting key
players for Saturday's equally as hard match against current leaders Chelsea who knows? A strong first twenty minutes from Liverpool as they dominated possession with glimpses of how they played last season replicated on a grand night at the Bernabeu where Liverpool won their last fixture here in 2009, 1-0 thanks to a Yossi Benayoun goal. A 26th minute goal seemed to be the start of a rampant night for Real Madrid, the attitude many would of thought but the weakened Liverpool side without Henderson, Gerrard or even Raheem Sterling held their own. Creating few chances against a strong Real Madrid defence it was hard to see them being broke down, Adam Lallana came close after a wonderful turn on the edge of the box. The introduction of Steven Gerrard and Raheem sterling replacing Markovic and Lucas in the 68th minute seemed to show a further attacking dimension for Liverpool, again further shown by the appearance of Phillipe Coutinho in the 74th minute. Gareth Bale had the best chance of the second half but was denied by the cross bar while Liverpool held Real Madrid to a one nil margin, the scoreline was still one that is a respectable deficit to lose by.
Some may disagree with the squad Rodgers picked, while other say his squad played well and were just unlucky, a star performance from an unlikely source became a talking point as Kolo Toure almost played Ronaldo off the park lurking behind the Portugal star nearly the whole match. Against a player who has averaged a goal a game since 2010 that is something to take away in achievement
(Hopefully its make Diego Costa jelly legged).

Final Thought, over 180 minutes Liverpool lost 4-0 to the best football team in the world. Liverpool are clearly miles behind in the squad compared to both teams, but in the second fixture they showed a
lot more desire, got in the faces of the galacticos and went toe to toe with them. Unlucky to not get any clear chances on goal, but with the quality that Real Madrid possess through all areas of the pitch it was hard to see a result ever not being in their favour. Qualification from the group is still extremely achievable consecutive victories over opposition we are very capable of beating will mean Liverpool finishing second.