Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard believes his old side suffered a 'reality check' in their drubbing at the hands of Real Madrid.
Despite getting off to the perfect start at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp’s side were left red faced as Real ran riot. Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah fired Liverpool into a 2-0 lead inside the opening 15 minutes.
However, braces from Vinicius Jnr and Karim Benzema plus a Eder Militao header turned the tie on its head. And Gerrard, speaking post-match, believes there is going to be a lot of soul-searching inside the Liverpool dressing room following the defeat.
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He said: “I think it’s a reality check. Got off to the perfect start, exactly what you need on a European night - start fast, get yourself in front, build on it.
“They went two nil up, but from that moment Real Madrid came back into it, scored quite quick - fantastic goal. From then Liverpool were dominated and outclassed for large periods.
"Look, I think any team, any club, if you concede five goals there’s got to be an inquest into why and how.
“I’m sure Jurgen will do that in the coming days, I think everyone will be a little bit raw on the back of that defeat - Liverpool don’t concede five goals here at Anfield, and if they do it’s very rare.
“There’s gonna be a little bit of soul-searching, a little bit of looking in the mirror, sure, there always is when you concede that many goals. It weren’t good enough.”
Gerrard then continued, saying: "Sometimes in football you’ve got to hold your hands up and say the best team won. Liverpool were outclassed, Liverpool were dominated, they were better in most areas of the pitch, you’d have to say.
"They got off to a slow start but the experience, the reaction was absolutely top class. And we’re witnessing here absolute greatness in Modric and Benzema, you’re talking about players that are operating on a different level than most."
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