“The bubble has burst.”
Liam Brady destroyed Liverpool and Fabinho in particular as he assessed their defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16 tie.
Liverpool went 2-0 early on thanks to goals from Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah, who capitalised on a Thibaut Courtois error, but within the next 15 minutes it was 2-2.
Two goals from Vinicius Jr – one a worldie, and another a mistake by Alisson – meant that they went in at half time all square.
The second half saw the floodgates opened and Madrid scored three times with relative ease; two of which coming from Karim Benzema.
It looked like the home side had completely collapsed, and speaking on RTÉ, Brady went through what he called his “hit list” and didn’t hold back.
“Fabinho was awful, he was like an old man of my age playing tonight,” said Brady.
“I don’t think Virgil van Dijk has ever recovered from that injury properly from (Jordan) Pickford, I think he ruptured his knee.
“Trent Alexander – Klopp hasn’t got a grip of his defending. It’s been so evident over the last two years. Thiago wasn’t the answer in midfield. I know he wasn’t playing tonight, but they brought him in when Wijnaldum went, and he hasn’t replaced Wijnaldum.
“Mané leaving was a big miss as well. So, you put all of those things together, and I think that’s where the bubble has burst.
“All the contractual business with Salah – I don’t think that helped.
“My last point; is the club for sale? All of that speculation unsettles everybody, and they’re fragile, you can see that they’re fragile.”
Liverpool now have to go to Spain and win by four goals if they want to go through to the quarter finals of the tournament.
Of course Klopp guided his team to this incredible feat before when they beat Barcelona 4-0 at Anfield, but this time would take something even greater given how poor they have been this season.
Related links:
- Liverpool v Real Madrid: Player ratings and updates from Champions League clash
- Jake Humphrey apologises to Liverpool fans for reading “false statements” in Paris
- John Henry rules out selling Liverpool in FSG’s latest plans for the club
