Jamie Carragher criticized his former club, Liverpool, for their poor performance in the Champions League, as Real Madrid dominated and “devastated” the Reds.
In the first leg of their last-16 match, Jurgen Klopp’s team took a 2-0 lead within the first 15 minutes at Anfield, thanks to goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah
Carlo Ancelotti’s defending champions of Europe reacted with merciless efficiency, as Vinicius Junior scored twice in the first half to level the score before Eder Militao headed in to put Madrid ahead in the second half.
Karim Benzema scored twice, giving his team a 5-2 lead to defend at the Santiago Bernabeu on March 15th. With this loss, Liverpool became the first team in Champions League history to take a 2-0 lead and then lose by a margin of three goals.
This was also the first time that Liverpool had conceded five goals at home in a European match, leaving Carragher in disbelief as he gave a scathing assessment of the team’s performance.
Speaking on CBS Sports, the ex-Liverpool captain remarked, “Firstly, what a performance by Real Madrid to come to Anfield and produce such a display.”
“I’ve never seen a team come to Anfield, on a European night that I can remember, and perform and destroy Liverpool like that.
“That was shambolic from Liverpool, embarrassing, we’ve made excuses for them all season.
“We’ve said reasons why they’re not doing as well as they have done in previous seasons, but that was a disgrace in that second half.”
Carragher was unable to mount any kind of defense for Liverpool or Klopp, with the Reds’ performance against Madrid embodying a season of underperformance and failure.
He continued: “I keep making excuses because as Liverpool fans we adore this manager and the team as they’ve done so much in the last few years, but they are eighth in the Premier League and just been battered 5-2, I know by Real Madrid.
“But these two teams were in the final last year, it’s not acceptable to watch this season, we keep giving reasons and excuses, but it’s nowhere near good enough.
“What makes me laugh is Virgil van Dijk said I wouldn’t get in their back four a few months ago – I think I’d take his place at the moment.”
