Jurgen Klopp admitted something was wrong with his Liverpool team when Thibault Courtois was named man of the match in Real Madrid's 2022 Champions League final win.
Los Blancos won the closely contested European showpiece 1-0 in Paris with Vinicius Jr on target, but it was Real Madrid's shot-stopper that stole all the plaudits. The Belgium international made a total of nine stunning saves over the course of the match - a Champions League final record - to ensure a single goal was all that was needed.
A deflated Klopp admitted his attacking players let Liverpool down in the final and said after the defeat: "They scored a goal, we didn't.
"That's the easiest explanation in the world of football. Harsh, but we respect it of course. When the goalkeeper is the man of the match something is wrong. Something is going wrong for the other team.
"I think Madrid had one shot on target and it was a goal. But I understand 100 per cent and respect 100 per cent that the reason for playing football and having competitions is to win the game. Whatever you do, within the rules, is completely fine. We played a good game, but when you lose 1-0 you have to admit it wasn't good enough."
Liverpool have the opportunity of redemption this season after drawing Real Madrid in the last-16 of the Champions League.
And it seems Klopp's attacking players initially took his words on board in the first leg at Anfield - with the German's 'wrong man of the match comments also apparently getting under Real Madrid's skin.
The Reds found themselves ahead against Real Madrid in just four minutes with Mohamed Salah picking out Darwin Nunez to flick the ball past Courtois.
The Belgian then made a huge error just two minutes later when he failed to clear his lines and instead teed up Salah to net Liverpool's second - destroying his chances of winning the man of the match award again.
Real Madrid did what they do best, though, ignoring the fact that their defence hadn't been as good as it had been in the final by getting back into the game - their attacking players this time making sure one of them would be named man of the match.
Los Blancos had drawn the scores level by half-time and, by the final whistle, they had turned the game around completely, winning 5-2.
Liverpool are, technically, still in this tie and will play Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in March, but the Spaniards are firm favourites to progress to the quarter-finals.
