Another famous European night at Anfield was on the cards on Tuesday night, until it wasn't.
Two goals to the good inside a quarter of an hour, Liverpool were in dreamland against the reigning champions of the competition. Real Madrid's 14th European Cup of course came at the Reds' expense, and there was further pain caused by the Spanish giants after their remarkable comeback staged earlier this week.
Reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League will now prove a tall order for Jurgen Klopp's side, whose attention will turn back to domestic action this weekend with a trip to Crystal Palace on the agenda. Dissecting Tuesday's disappointment while previewing Saturday's contest in the capital, four supporters have shared their views as part of a weekly ECHO fan column.
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Rhys Buchanan (city centre, @Rhys_Buchanan) - Not the time for panicking
I certainly won’t be hitting the panic button after Tuesday’s result at Anfield. On paper it’s a bruising scoreline but, ultimately, I don't think it does us justice. We came up against an imperious side full of elite players and were beaten by moments of pure magic and hard luck.
Jurgen Klopp has said we need to take the positives, and I wholeheartedly agree. There’s no point in making inflammatory statements off the back of two very positive results in the league; we need to bounce down to Palace and keep that momentum up. Come the summer, we’ll be buoyed by new signings to go with our frontline, which is beginning to show signs of its lethal best once again.
Andrew Cullen (Widnes, @brothersred5) - Summer window offers chance for needed reset
The sound of You’ll Never Walk Alone reverberating around Anfield at the close of the game on Tuesday was comforting as it was special. Special because it was an embodiment of what this club is about: sheer passion and togetherness.
The performance was abject in the second half, and it remains curious why Klopp continues to implement a style of play which is not compatible with this current group of players.
It will be for others to lambast the performance of individual members of the team. Do we need significant surgery in the summer? Yes. Will current players be heading for the exit? Yes. Has this season been demoralising to date? Yes. But, when we recognise that there is a potential cure for the malady, that being significant investment with Klopp in post, we can move forward and accept that this season we will continue to see performances which are a composition of the sublime and the silly.
As a small tonic to ease the headache from Tuesday, we should remember that top four is within reach. Our passage to the next round of the Champions League seems the opposite, but I wouldn’t cancel your flights to Istanbul just yet.
David Shams (Washington D.C., @ShamsWriter) - Palace are no pushovers
In the space of a week, we saw some of the best football all season and some of the worst. Two league wins on the trot gave the impression futility was sorted, but then came Tuesday night with its huge dose of reality: there’s still work to be done.
Five goals conceded at Anfield will certainly sting, but I think it’s harder to take because there was a feeling that things were on the mend. Was it a false dawn or a momentary blip?
There are signs of hope. Mo’s profligacy looks to have ended; Darwin’s banging in goals; Gakpo’s opened his account and we’re scoring first. But what is hope without despair? Defensive frailties remain and Real Madrid are a bogey side we just can’t shake.
Saturday evening beckons with a trip to Selhurst Park. Palace, a single win in all competitions since the restart, will still pose a test. They almost always do. A passing grade will suffice, three points by any means necessary.
James Noble (Worcestershire, @james_noble98) - Don't rule out comeback in Madrid
Well, Tuesday certainly wasn’t dull. There are other potential descriptions, of course. In all seriousness, though, there ought to be plenty to take from that experience. There are lessons that can be applied on Saturday, in the second leg versus Real and beyond. We have to be better, of course. There’s no two ways about that.
Simultaneously, Real Madrid were brilliantly composed and ruthless. Still, it’s only half-time in the tie and we know the ropes slightly better after Tuesday. A lot can happen between now and March 15. Making a comeback looks quite the challenge, but we don’t want to come away from the Bernabéu thinking we never believed we could do it.
Darwin Núñez and Mohamed Salah’s goals were both highly encouraging, in different ways. The same could be said for those scored by the Uruguayan and Cody Gakpo at Newcastle. Just as the victories over Everton and the Magpies didn’t dispel the wider issues, how Tuesday ended up needn’t mean the encouraging signs of the last fortnight have to be forgotten about.
Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace will pose plenty of its own challenges, but it remains another chance to build on the headway we’ve seen recently.
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