Liverpool officially empty-handed in the tournaments they attend in the 2020/21 season! And the goal now of The Kop is just to reach the Top 4 Premier League. No fan of this team thought it all ended so badly, but it happened.
If Mohamed Salah shoots down Thibault Courtois in the 117th second, the scenario of the second leg at Anfield could go the other way. Like when Liverpool opened the score early against Barca in this place two years ago, who knows how many more goals they will have. However, Salah failed to win the Belgian goalkeeper on Real’s left foot. And he went on to fail on the next shot on target, in the 90 + 1 minute.
In the very long time between those two shots, Salah and his teammates tried their luck many times, but not once succeeded. It is worth mentioning that 13 out of 15 shots that Liverpool have taken took place in the penalty area. However, with only 4 on target, it can only be said that Juergen Klopp’s students played very badly. And when eliminated, they should blame themselves for leaving the Champions League.
Klopp said Liverpool needed a better performance than the first leg to dream of a comeback. They did, at least in the early part of the game, putting great pressure on Real with intensity and speed. The expected 1.23 goal index greater than the 0.83 they had at Madrid last week also underscores the difference. There is, as James Milner sadly said after the game, “we did everything, other than scoring 2 goals.” And that is the reason why Klopp regrets, that his team “lost in Madrid, not tonight”.
The question is, why did Liverpool lose the consistency they had, and then put themselves in such a bad place? They have been playing erratically over the past several months and in a confusing way, always becoming less sharp when playing at Anfield. Wednesday night was the 7th of the last 10 home matches in all competitions, Salah and his teammates could not find the opponent’s net.
The goalless draw against Real at Anfiled officially turned Liverpool (red shirt) into a blank in the 2020/21 season.
Hope for a broken feat, Liverpool has to face the reality of an empty season. More seriously, they also risk not being able to re-export the Champions League to get revenge next season. The Kop has been drifting outside of the top 4 for 2 months now and 6th place, 2 points behind Chelsea, 3 points West Ham makes coming back a real challenge. Their journey will start at Leeds’ Elland Road at the weekend. And overcoming physical torture with players physically tired, mentally downhill after 90 minutes filled with disappointment and regret at Real will reveal how successful they are. .
But the challenge for Klopp has not stopped. The defeat against Real has shown that Liverpool need a drastic overhaul to upgrade the squad. 7/11 names in the starting lineup at Anfield have played in the Champions League final against Real in 2018. If not because of injury, this number is even higher. In the second half of the game, when the opponent regained the rhythm and Liverpool increasingly withered their ideas, the players Klopp brought into the field did not help improve the situation. So depth quality is also an issue.
However, Klopp’s summer revolution, in addition to the task of retaining stars like Salah and Sadio Mane, depends greatly on where Liverpool is at the end of the season. A vicious circle. And with that said, they can only blame themselves for falling there.
When Anfield was no longer a mecca
This is the 11th match this season (in all competitions), Liverpool failed to score goals. Amazingly, 9 of them took place at Anfield. Under the guidance of Klopp in the previous time, lasting more than 4 seasons, The Kop has only 9 times without scoring at home and no season more than 3 games.
“Liverpool played excellently, actively and created many opportunities. But this kind of match takes a few crucial moments. We don’t have, and we don’t have a goal. Finishing has been a problem for The Kop all this season., Said Klopp.
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