Jordan Henderson has pinpointed the moment he felt Liverpool’s Champions League tie with Real Madrid got away from his side.
After a bright start at Anfield, in which Liverpool raced into a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah, the Reds ultimately succumbed to a 5-2 defeat after a second-half turnaround.
Vinicius Junior's brilliant 21st-minute strike pulled a goal back for Carlo Ancelotti's side before Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker gifted the visitors an equaliser when he fired the ball straight at the Brazilian in front of the Kop.
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Real then went ahead two minutes after the break when Eder Militao headed in Luka Modric's free-kick before Karim Benzema scored twice. But in the eyes of Henderson it was when Militao scored, and not Alisson’s mistake, when the game got away from his side.
"Very difficult. It's hard to sum it up straight after the game. Mixed feelings. Frustration with the result,” he said post-match.
"For large parts of the first half we performed well and were unlucky to be level at half-time. We made too many mistakes. Real Madrid punished us every time tonight.
"A lot was [down to] their quality. We didn't help ourselves for sure. We didn't defend it [Real's third goal] well enough. After that there was a few balls we could do better. The game went away from us at that point.”
The Liverpool skipper then continued, saying: "The last two games we kept clean sheets. It's hard. it's difficult to come here and speak. Yes, they have a lot of quality.
“When you're not 100% defending they punish you. We caused ourselves problems at times. It's a tough one to take in the end.
"We still played a good first half. We were on top and created some good chances. There was a good chance at 2-0, a scuffle on the line. If that goes in it's a big moment.
"The second goal obviously is a mistake. The third we'll be disappointed with. That's when the game went away from us.
"It's [the second leg] still a few weeks away. We have to move on quickly. We have Premier League games before then so we have to concentrate on that, and cross this bridge when we come to it."
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