Liverpool’s reserves surprisingly managed a respectable scoreline
When Brendan Rodgers named his Liverpool team for their Champions League tie against Real Madrid on Tuesday night, many Reds’ fans will have been expecting the worst.
With first choices Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, Philippe Coutinho, and Jordan Henderson on the bench, it looked like the Merseyside club had given up before the game had even started.
However, the thrashing that many expected didn’t occur and here are five things we learnt from that…
SEE MORE
Arsenal And Liverpool Target To Be Offered Whopping New £23m Contract To Stay At Current Club
Shoot! The 20 Most Shot-Happy Teams In Europe Include Struggling Liverpool 14th And Unbeaten Chelsea 15th
Eight Most Valuable Young Premier League Strikers: Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck Second, Liverpool Outcast Fourth
5) Lazar Markovic Could Still Come Good
The £20 million summer signing didn’t look completely out of his depth and showed promise when he had the ball at his feet.
Although there is much for the Serb to work on, he may not be the flop that everyone assumes at the moment.
4) Some of Liverpool’s second XI might be worth a go in the first
Maybe they were helped by Madrid’s surprise at playing such a changed side, but one can’t help but think the first team might have lost in a worse fashion.
Not all of the players performed well, for example Fabio Borini and Adam Lallana never looked like threatening the Galacticos back line.
However, it may be worth trying a couple out in the Premier League, for instance Lucas Leiva and Emre Can did some admirable defensive work.
3) Simon Mignolet may have bought himself some time
The Belgian played well between the sticks and kept the score lower than it could have ended up being.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Liverpool’s links to Fiorentina keeper Neto die down if the 26-year-old carries this form in to the next few games.
2) Fabio Borini is not the answer to striking problems
The Italian had been touted by some fans to replace his compatriot Mario Balotelli in the first team. However, judging by this performance he doesn’t add anything that the 24-year-old can’t.
This may be a little harsh as he had little chance to impress, with Los Blancos controlling the ball for large periods.
1) There’s still a lot to improve for Liverpool
Losing 1-0 to possibly the best team in the world is not in any way a bad result, but the scoreline did flatter the five-time European champions.
With Madrid having 27 shots and the lion’s share of possession, it could have been a lot worse for Brendan Rodgers’ side. They have to make sure that they don’t think they’ve improved just because of this lucky result.