Jamie Carragher has bemoaned Liverpool's midfield of having a lack of creativity against Atletico Madrid but admitted La Liga giants were fully deserved of their win.
Liverpool lost 1-0 in the Spanish capital on Tuesday night and play the Champions League last-16 second leg next month at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp's side fell behind early on in the tie when Saul Niguez took advantage of a loose ball in the Reds' penalty area.
Liverpool dominated possession for the rest of the game but failed to register a shot on target as Atletico's defence frustrated a strong Reds frontline.
Carragher believes Liverpool's inability to break down Diego Simeone's side was due to a lack of creativity coming from the midfield - and reckons it's been an issue for a while now.
"Well it was a really frustrating night for Liverpool," he told Viasport . "We knew how Atletico would play, Jurgen Klopp knew. ‘But the big thing you don’t want to do in games like this is concede the first goal – and so very early from a set-piece.
"Sometimes it happens, little bit of luck and it rebounds and they go 1-0 up.
"Liverpool didn’t get too frustrated but they couldn’t create anything, they don’t have real creativity, certainly in midfield. That’s always been a problem.
"But I think tonight you have to say Atletico defended really well and the important thing for Liverpool was not to lose their discipline, and get a red card or go down to 10 men, and to make sure the game stayed at 1-0 and not 2-0.
"At 1-0 I still think Liverpool have a great opportunity of going through. If it had gone 2-0 I think Liverpool would have been nearly out.
"So at 1-0 Atletico deserved it, they had the better chances, but Liverpool will be a lot better at Anfield."
