Liverpool's hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League were dealt a huge blow on Tuesday evening as an inspired second half performance from Real Madrid left the Reds on the brink of elimination.
Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah fired the Reds ahead inside the opening 15 minutes on a night that had all the hallmarks of another famous European night at Anfield.
However, the La Liga champions hit five goals without reply through Vinicius Jr, Karim Benzema and Eder Militao to give themselves an extraordinary lead heading into next month's return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Here's how the National Media and the ECHO's Paul Gorst reacted to Liverpool's heaviest ever Champions League defeat at Anfield.
Chris Bascombe,The Telegraph: "The squad must evolve"
LFC RATINGS: Joe Gomez and two others awful in Real Madrid humbling
READ MORE: 'There’s got to be' - Steven Gerrard makes brutal Liverpool claim
"Aside from qualification for next year’s Champions League, the only prize left for Klopp to compete for this season is Jude Bellingham’s signature, the Borussia Dortmund suddenly a symbol of an imagined Liverpool future.
"The squad must evolve, and when a world-class player is available, the manager wants him and the target seems keen on the move, there is no hiding place if money turns out to be the chief reason for missing out.
"In a rare misstep, Liverpool's strategy of waiting for the right player, rather than any player, has spectacularly backfired as the season has floundered like some of their weary midfielders.
"There is a clear and present danger if the owners’ pleas for investment are unsuccessful."
Phil McNulty, BBC Sport: "Fabinho and Jordan Henderson were powerless"
"Real oozed class and control while Liverpool subsided, Ancelotti poker-faced and cool in his technical area as Anfield was reduced to silence.
"Trent Alexander-Arnold, who had a tough night against Vinicius, switched off along with the rest of the defence as Eder Militao was allowed to trot unmarked on to the end of Luka Modric's free-kick to put Real in front.
"That was effectively that. Game over. Real never looked back.
"Joe Gomez's grim night was summed up by the misfortune of deflecting Karim Benzema's shot past Allison to make it four, and worse was to come.
"Liverpool's defence was poor but their midfield has offered little protection this season. It would have still been galling for the disbelieving home fans to see 37-year-old Modric speed away from the labouring Fabinho and shrug off Stefan Bajcetic in the lead up to Benzema's fifth and final goal.
"Fabinho and Jordan Henderson were powerless when faced with the movement and strength of not just Modric - applauded warmly by Liverpool's fans when he was substituted in the closing seconds - but also Federico Valderde and Eduardo Camavinga.
"Liverpool's midfield is in urgent need of attention and renewal. Klopp will know that but this tortuous 90 minutes will crystallise that thought."
Oliver Holt, Daily Mail: "Madrid are never, never dead"
"After the break, Madrid were simply in a different class. They taught Liverpool a lesson. They humbled them. They played the ball around them and picked them off at will.
"They made Klopp's team look callow. They overwhelmed them with their quality and their class. Luka Modric ran the show in midfield. Vinicius tortured Liverpool. Benzema glided through the gears. They have won this competition 14 times. After last night, they will be favourites to make it 15 in Istanbul at the beginning of June.
"Liverpool may be in recovery but they are a long way from being back to their best. This was a 5-2 humbling for Jurgen Klopp's side and the idea they might stage a comeback of their own in the second leg at the Estadio Bernabeu three weeks from now feels like a forlorn hope.
"They might as well be out of Europe. What remains for them this season is to try to salvage a place in this competition next season by finishing in the Premier League top four.
"But Madrid are never, never dead. In fact, this comeback was relatively routine compared to some of last season's. Vinicius Jr, who had scored the winner in the final last season, tormented Liverpool down their right side and brought his team back into the match with a brilliant first goal. 'That gave us wind beneath our wings,' Courtois said after the match. The Brazilian, who was man of the match by a distance, equalised before half time after a dreadful mistake by Alisson."
David Hynter, The Guardian: "The second half would turn into a procession for Madrid"
"The second half would turn into a procession for Madrid, their superiority – and Liverpool’s travails – emphasised when Luka Modric sprinted through a nonexistent midfield, having won the ball off Fabinho and left Stefan Bajcetic in his wake. Modric did not look his 37 years. He found Vinícius, who squared for Karim Benzema and, at that point, it felt as though the centre-forward wanted to toy with Liverpool.
"Benzema checked, putting Alisson on the floor, and he took his time, revelling in the moment, wanting to string it out. He knew that he was about to score, despite there being a few red shirts close by. Eventually he swept home.
"That made it 5-2 and it was Benzema’s second. Éder Militão had made it 3-2 after Liverpool froze inside the six-yard box on a Modric free-kick, caught out by a simple run, but it was a gruesome job to rake over all of the concessions. Benzema’s first was a scuffed shot that Alisson looked to have covered before it deflected off Joe Gomez, who had an evening when nothing went right.
"Carlo Ancelotti, the Madrid manager, once of Milan, knows that a three-goal lead over Liverpool is no guarantee of victory. And yet it felt ridiculous to invoke the famous Istanbul final of 2005. This tie is surely over. The same could be said of Liverpool’s season.
"Real are the reigning Spanish and European champions; the World Club champions, too, having beaten Al-Hilal in Morocco ten days previously. Klopp probably has a few extra ways to describe them and the history that his Liverpool team have with them was an unavoidable subplot – not just the two most recent defeats but the one in the 2018 final, too."
Paul Gorst, ECHO: "Staring down the barrel of a last-16 exit"
"For 15 minutes, it looked as though this iteration of Real Madrid were about to be added to the long list of opposition sides who had been forced to go on bended knee by the power of Anfield on a European night. Early goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah had this one looking like a rerun of a continental classic as Liverpool scorched out the traps and into a position of dominance.
"But if there's any collection of players who remain truly unfazed by finding themselves two goals down with over 160 minutes of a Champions League tie left to play, it is Carlo Ancelotti's. The Spanish giants almost revel in such adversity; there's a reason they have won this competition 14 times overall and five in the last decade.
"It was something Klopp prophetically warned of in Monday’s press conference, saying: “Real don't lose confidence in one second. They are there. You can learn from them.”
"This 5-2 defeat leaves Liverpool staring down the barrel of a last-16 exit and another Champions League defeat to a team who enjoy a rare kind of stranglehold over Klopp's Reds. Esto es Anfield…y que?"
READ NEXT
- Liverpool player ratings as Joe Gomez and two others awful in Real Madrid humbling
- Real Madrid have just exposed Liverpool's greatest Champions League concern
- Karim Benzema reveals what Liverpool fans did to unleash the 'true Real Madrid'
- Jamie Carragher sends brutal Virgil van Dijk message after Liverpool 'disgrace'
- Steven Gerrard makes brutal Liverpool claim
