Watching Liverpool in last night’s 5-2 collapse against Real Madrid, one might think that Jurgen Klopp’s side had no experience of a two-legged European draw.
This is of course far from the truth. Liverpool’s record in European competition under Klopp is exemplary. They reached the Europa League final in 2016, then the Champions League final in 2018, 2019 and 2022. They lost three of those four endgames but are obviously excellent at surviving twolegs.
Yet they have often progressed through chaos rather than control.
Think of their trips to the final and you’ll remember the 5-4 aggregate win over Borussia Dortmund in 2016, the 7-6 aggregate win over Roma in 2018, the miraculous comeback by beating 4-3 Barcelona in 2019 and maybe last season’s 6-4 win over Benfica.
But it sometimes feels like Liverpool only has one gear. You can only play Heavy Metal Football. There is no way to slow down the pace of a game and calmly assert their dominance. She tasted it last night.
More from The Athletic on Liverpool’s collapse at Anfield…
In the early days of Klopp’s struggles with Pep Guardiola in English football, games took on a familiar pattern. Liverpool flew out of the traps, took the lead early on, but then couldn’t keep up the pace and City gradually played their way into the game. More recently it seems Liverpool and City’s styles have converged and Klopp’s side have become more patient.
But last night’s performance against Real was back to the old days: a stormy opening of the game, and then an unthinkable collapse.
When the score was 0-2, Liverpool played like they were 0-2 behind. Despite threats from Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo on the counterattack, Karim Benzema’s intelligent movements and Federico Valverde’s relentless running, Klopp’s side continued to throw men up front in attack.
Here’s an example of both full-backs Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold committing to attack when the score is 2-0. In this situation, at least the midfield trio is able to fend off counterattacks. That would not always be the case.
After Vinicius Jr brought Real back into the game from nowhere with a superb goal, Liverpool progressed. Here’s Alexander-Arnold drilling a crossfield ball to Robertson and ending in a spectacular volley. Top marks for ambition, but the consequence was Vinicius Jr. charging into space down the left, full-backs nowhere to be seen. He didn’t hit the last ball quite right.
Klopp’s approach is of course about risk and reward – and it would be dour not to praise Liverpool’s approach when things are going well.
Here’s another example of Liverpool’s full-backs being tall – in fact, nine outfielders can be seen in that first screenshot. Liverpool have just conceded possession – but with team-mates helping to fill the space around the ball, Cody Gakpo charges at Nacho, gaining possession on the edge of the box and Liverpool find themselves in a promising situation.
It’s classic counter-pressing, which is exactly what Klopp wants from his side.
But on the other hand, Liverpool didn’t take advantage of this opportunity, and Vinicius Jr. was again allowed to counterattack into space. For clarification, Virgil van Dijk is off shot on the right, ready to intervene. And you can’t fault his teammates’ determination to come back. Also, Vinicius Jr eventually stumbles over the ball.
But this is obviously a ridiculous situation for a side leading 2-1 and Liverpool’s approach contributed to a back-and-forth game that allowed Real to get back into the game.
Sometimes Liverpool tried to be mature. The closest they came to a third goal, an ambivalent situation with Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez, came after a rare period of possession in midfield, with Fabinho and Stefan Bajcetic trading passes in midfield and slowly building a play.
But at other times Liverpool’s lack of tactical awareness was astounding.
Here’s an example of Jordan Henderson capturing the ball in midfield and dribbles forward. Salah and Nunez, the two wingers, prepare to sprint forward.
Henderson plays a pass to Bajcetic, but Eduardo Camavinga sees his intention and intercepts. Liverpool’s move lasted exactly zero passes. Real Madrid regained the ball immediately after losing it. For all Liverpool’s emphasis on their own counter-pressing, they constantly let the opposition give them a taste of their own medicine.
And because Liverpool’s strikers had started their attacking rotation, they are unable to come back and help in defence.
Liverpool’s defense and midfield are in place, but that’s like watching Paris Saint-Germain – a 4-3-0 form. Real pushes the ball into Valverde, who shoots over it. It’s not a great chance, but Liverpool shouldn’t have put themselves in this situation about ten seconds after winning the ball in midfield.
And even Real’s equalizer – yes, a freak goal – came from a lack of patience.
Bajcetic tries to turn forward when he could have played a simple sideways pass. He turns into traffic and Liverpool loses the ball. Alisson’s mistake is obvious. But it’s worth noting that he actually tried to play a positive forward pass, probably into Alexander-Arnold when an easy ball was up to three other defenders. It wasn’t worth the risk.
At this point the score was 2-2 and perhaps more risk-taking was required.
But even in this situation, a direct free kick, Liverpool seemed naive. Alexander-Arnold would always shoot from this position; a cross would have been impossible. And yet Liverpool felt the need to push both Van Dijk and Gomez, both highlighted, to the edge of opposition’s penalty area. Why? Did they expect this ball to be crossed? Would they be better scorers than Nunez, Salah and Gakpo if Thibaut Courtois saves the ball back into play? As Courtois catches the ball, Liverpool centre-backs are the two players – on both teams – closest to goal.
And what happens? Courtois throws the ball wide, Vinicius Jr. grabs the left and almost tries to hit Rodrygo. Van Dijk, who may have defended the very space Rodrygo is running into, is still chasing back in midfield. Only a great last-minute tackle from Robertson prevented Liverpool from going 3-2 down at the break.
Of course things got out of hand after half-time. Liverpool made a poor save from a wide free-kick and went back 2-3. They were unlucky with Benzema’s deflected goal for the fourth time, then collapsed completely, leaving their central defenders exposed again on the fifth.
The expected number of goals suggests that Real were lucky to score five goals. But the expected goal numbers only take shots into account. They don’t explain that Vinicius Jr. was allowed to counterattack three times in the first half – once missing the final pass, another time tripping over the ball and finally squaring the ball for an easy tap-in – but Robertson’s intervention did.
These movements didn’t produce gunfire, but they were still significant. They mattered because they gave Real an easy route to goal and they mattered because they were a direct result of Liverpool’s poor organization.
Klopp’s side offered little attacking threat in the closing stages as if they happily accepted the goal.
In a damning indictment of this side’s tactical intelligence, when Liverpool were 2-0 up they played more like a 2-0 deficit and when they were 5-2 down they played more like a 5-2 lead.