Goals: Nunez 3′ Salah 15′; Vinicius Jr. 20′ 32′, Militao 47′, Benzema 56′ 67′

Alisson Becker – 5 (out of 10)

Presumably he felt sorry for Courtois? Not many more excuses for the folly of tying the ball straight to Vinicius Jr. when he had passing chances left and right. And that came after he had already been beaten by a Worlds and tipped another in the same way.
The Kop quickly backed him up, but who knows how the game could go without the point guard dying before halftime? A close-range header and deflection left Ali without a chance after the break before being seeded for the fifth time.

Trent Alexander Arnold – 5

Certainly he wasn’t bad or lacking in defense here, at least not directly, but Vinicius – as befits one of the best strikers in the world – has threatened to tear Liverpool apart at times.

He didn’t stop running for the free kick, obviously he was often dismissed by pure acceleration and on the other hand he still didn’t have his throwing boots.

Joe Gomez-4

Maybe a little harsh, but he didn’t get close enough to Vinicius Jr for his first goal. He went really well behind everyone else on several occasions in the first half, with his pace being key for a couple of counter-attacks.

In the “what the hell happened” quest to goal number two, Gomez’s pass wasn’t exceptionally tough, though that’s not the main issue. But he packed Vinicius for Real’s third, the ball went out on him four times and he was completely out of place for five.

Virgil van Dyke – 5

Very strong defensively at times, very absent at other times – unfortunately that was to be expected after an injured retirement and this is only the second game.

Lui held Vini up very well in one-on-ones until Gomez came on, made some big sweeps and also had some great headers, but several goals got past him more often than anyone else.

Andy Robertson-5

A very eventful first half chasing Rodrygo, chasing Carvajal and chasing jumped crosses that went from right to left. Not as much the final delivery as he would have liked, but still an outlet nonetheless. A magical clarification at the far post was crucial – without it Real took the lead at the break.

Doesn’t matter as it turned out.

Fabino-4

Decided to go wild in the first half, kinda like old Fabinho but about 10mph slower.
There were some good passes. A few necessary mistakes. Even a duel or two. But for the most part he was just passed, rushed and found himself completely underpowered by a midfielder withLiverpool movement, tenacity and athleticism. Seems done at this level.

Jordan Henderson – 4

Another culprit in Real’s opening goal as he left his man, but three times more in the first half came back to counterattack and stop as Real threatened to explode in numbers.
Like his midfield partners, he was crushed and maimed and looked like a relic once Real picked up the pace of their passing in central areas.

Stefan Bajcetic – 4

The big ones and obviously the young ones were both on display. He’s a class act, but he has to learn that he can’t prove it every minute of every game.

For every excellent ball-winning moment and play-changer, there was a turn of events, even to give away the ball for their second.

Mohammed Salah – 6

For half an hour, Salah was back in Egyptian king untouchable mode: he was skilled, superb in link play, made countless runs and had two great chances to score; one went wide with great action, the other shot after the goalkeeper’s gift.

Cody Gakpo-5

In his role, whether he is an attacker or not, you have to accept that he sometimes has to fall more as an additional blocker, but also be an outlet in the other direction. Worked hard, won the ball in duels and created a lot – but only for a short time. Left Militao for the third as well.

Darwin Nunez – 6

Much like Gakpo, he was truly excellent for a brief flurry and then offered much less as the rest of the team crumbled. The magical goal gave the evening a real European thriller feel, and a great pass to the other side was also important, but it fizzled out in the end.

Substitutes

Roberto Firmino (in place of Gakpo, 64′) – 5 – Few offers.

Diogo Jota (on for Nunez, 64′) – 4 – Bad ball contact in a promising position.

Joel Matip (in place of Gomez, 73′) – 5 – Couple of recovery runs.

James Milner (up for Henderson, 73′) – 4 – Runs and passes the ball out of play a couple of times.

Harvey Elliott (in place of Bajcetic, 85′) – N/A – Last minutes. Booked for frustration after the referee didn’t allow two obvious handballs.

Unused Substitutes: Names here Kelleher, Adrian, Tsimikas, Carvalho, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Phillips

Jurgen Klopp – 5

The training was pretty much as expected and it’s hard to argue with the preparation given the start. But when things started to go… less well, let’s say, as usual there was no response, no change of approach, no system or personnel change or method of defending the spaces.

Perhaps pragmatism should have been the watchword once leadership was established, but in hindsight that’s very easy to say.

Player Rating Definitions: 10 = Flawless | 9 = Excellent | 8 = very good | 7 = Good | 6 = average | 5 = Under Par | 4 = Bad | 3 = very bad | 2 Horrible | 1 = Definitely not