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Brendan Rodgers defended his team selection after Liverpool’s 1-0 Champions League defeat against Real Madrid and insisted their hopes of progressing to the knockout phase are still “in our own hands”.
Rodgers left out Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson, Philippe Coutinho and Glen Johnson at the Bernabeu and instead fielded an inexperienced side containing the likes of Lazar Markovic, Javier Manquillo, Fabio Borini and Emre Can.
A 27th-minute strike from Karim Benzema was enough to win the game for the hosts, but Liverpool, who face Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday, fought valiantly and were never out of the contest.
“People obviously don’t know a lot of the players well,” Rodgers told Sky Sports afterwards. “There are a lot of new young players that were adapting into the team and the squad.
“We knew we had a real tough game tonight, but I didn’t rest players for Saturday. I picked what I thought could maybe – on the back on Saturday’s game against Newcastle – get the result for us tonight, and I think the performance showed that.
“We showed great courage. The players that came into the team were excellent and we were unfortunate not to get a result against a team that is the leading team in the world at the moment.
“I had every confidence that the players we chose tonight would do well and I don’t think any other players I could have put in tonight could have put in the performance we put in.”
The result maintains Real’s 100 per cent record in this season’s Champions League but leaves Liverpool still third on three points, three points behind Basel, who moved on to six points by beating Ludogorets 4-0.
Liverpool travel to Ludogorets next on November 26 before hosting Basel on December 9, and need to win both games to progress past the group phase.
“There are so many positives from tonight,” Rodgers added. “Obviously we lost the game and we are disappointed with that. It will now go down to the two [remaining] games in the group – that’s what we anticipated and it’s still very much in our own hands.”
Rodgers’ immediate focus, however, is on Saturday’s lunchtime clash with Premier League leaders Chelsea at Anfield.
Rodgers said: “We will take the confidence from the performance level and hopefully we can now move into Saturday’s game with more confidence. We now have to go again and refocus. We will stay overnight here, prepare well, train here tomorrow and get ready for the game on Saturday.”
Brendan Rodgers defended his team selection after Liverpool’s 1-0 Champions League defeat against Real Madrid and insisted their hopes of progressing to the knockout phase are still “in our own hands”.
Rodgers left out Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson, Philippe Coutinho and Glen Johnson at the Bernabeu and instead fielded an inexperienced side containing the likes of Lazar Markovic, Javier Manquillo, Fabio Borini and Emre Can.
A 27th-minute strike from Karim Benzema was enough to win the game for the hosts, but Liverpool, who face Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday, fought valiantly and were never out of the contest.
“People obviously don’t know a lot of the players well,” Rodgers told Sky Sports afterwards. “There are a lot of new young players that were adapting into the team and the squad.
“We knew we had a real tough game tonight, but I didn’t rest players for Saturday. I picked what I thought could maybe – on the back on Saturday’s game against Newcastle – get the result for us tonight, and I think the performance showed that.
“We showed great courage. The players that came into the team were excellent and we were unfortunate not to get a result against a team that is the leading team in the world at the moment.
“I had every confidence that the players we chose tonight would do well and I don’t think any other players I could have put in tonight could have put in the performance we put in.”
The result maintains Real’s 100 per cent record in this season’s Champions League but leaves Liverpool still third on three points, three points behind Basel, who moved on to six points by beating Ludogorets 4-0.
Liverpool travel to Ludogorets next on November 26 before hosting Basel on December 9, and need to win both games to progress past the group phase.
“There are so many positives from tonight,” Rodgers added. “Obviously we lost the game and we are disappointed with that. It will now go down to the two [remaining] games in the group – that’s what we anticipated and it’s still very much in our own hands.”
Rodgers’ immediate focus, however, is on Saturday’s lunchtime clash with Premier League leaders Chelsea at Anfield.
Rodgers said: “We will take the confidence from the performance level and hopefully we can now move into Saturday’s game with more confidence. We now have to go again and refocus. We will stay overnight here, prepare well, train here tomorrow and get ready for the game on Saturday.”
Karim Benzema scored the only goal as Real Madrid maintained their 100 per cent record in this season’s Champions League with a 1-0 win over a much-changed Liverpool at the Bernabeu.
Benzema converted Marcelo’s left-wing cross after 27 minutes to move the hosts on to 12 points in Group B and book their place in the knockout phase, while Liverpool remain third on three points.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers sprang a surprise by leaving Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson, Mario Balotelli, Philippe Coutinho and Glen Johnson out of his starting line-up, selecting instead the likes of Lazar Markovic, Fabio Borini, Emre Can and Adam Lallana.
But rather than collapse against the defending European champions, the inexperienced side fought valiantly throughout the game, without ever really threatening an equaliser.
Liverpool started confidently but could have gone behind after four minutes, when James Rodriguez was afforded space on the edge of the box and drew a desperate save from Simon Mignolet with a curling left-foot shot.
The Belgian produced another magnificent stop six minutes later, after Benzema dispossessed Martin Skrtel in the box and fed Cristiano Ronaldo, whose fierce drive was tipped over.
Real subsequently took control on both possession and territory, but with Kolo Toure outstanding in defence and Lucas protecting the back line vigilantly, they were unable to break through.
However, Marcelo then received the ball in space after 27 minutes and swept in a brilliant cross behind the Liverpool defence to the back post, where Benzema stretched unmarked to divert the ball into the roof of the net.
It looked like Liverpool would struggle to keep it at 1-0 until half-time, but the excellent Mignolet came to the rescue twice more with fine stops to deny rasping strikes from Ronaldo and then Marcelo.
Mignolet thwarted Ronaldo once more four minutes after the break, but then Liverpool grew in stature as Rodgers began to commit men forward, with Alberto Moreno seeing a left-foot strike saved by Iker Casillas, before Adam Lallana sent a shot flashing across goal.
Rodgers looked to build on the momentum by sending on Gerrard, Sterling and later Countinho, but the changes instead halted their progress and Real duly regained the upper hand.
Benzema diverted another Marcelo cross narrowly over and second-half substitute Gareth Bale then rattled the bar from another Marcelo centre, but despite late pressure from Liverpool, the single goal proved enough.
Karim Benzema scored the only goal as Real Madrid maintained their 100 per cent record in this season’s Champions League with a 1-0 win over a much-changed Liverpool at the Bernabeu.
Benzema converted Marcelo’s left-wing cross after 27 minutes to move the hosts on to 12 points in Group B and book their place in the knockout phase, while Liverpool remain third on three points.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers sprang a surprise by leaving Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson, Mario Balotelli, Philippe Coutinho and Glen Johnson out of his starting line-up, selecting instead the likes of Lazar Markovic, Fabio Borini, Emre Can and Adam Lallana.
But rather than collapse against the defending European champions, the inexperienced side fought valiantly throughout the game, without ever really threatening an equaliser.
Liverpool started confidently but could have gone behind after four minutes, when James Rodriguez was afforded space on the edge of the box and drew a desperate save from Simon Mignolet with a curling left-foot shot.
The Belgian produced another magnificent stop six minutes later, after Benzema dispossessed Martin Skrtel in the box and fed Cristiano Ronaldo, whose fierce drive was tipped over.
Real subsequently took control on both possession and territory, but with Kolo Toure outstanding in defence and Lucas protecting the back line vigilantly, they were unable to break through.
However, Marcelo then received the ball in space after 27 minutes and swept in a brilliant cross behind the Liverpool defence to the back post, where Benzema stretched unmarked to divert the ball into the roof of the net.
It looked like Liverpool would struggle to keep it at 1-0 until half-time, but the excellent Mignolet came to the rescue twice more with fine stops to deny rasping strikes from Ronaldo and then Marcelo.
Mignolet thwarted Ronaldo once more four minutes after the break, but then Liverpool grew in stature as Rodgers began to commit men forward, with Alberto Moreno seeing a left-foot strike saved by Iker Casillas, before Adam Lallana sent a shot flashing across goal.
Rodgers looked to build on the momentum by sending on Gerrard, Sterling and later Countinho, but the changes instead halted their progress and Real duly regained the upper hand.
Benzema diverted another Marcelo cross narrowly over and second-half substitute Gareth Bale then rattled the bar from another Marcelo centre, but despite late pressure from Liverpool, the single goal proved enough.
A spirited Liverpool performance saw Brendan Rodgers‘ much changed side lose 1-0 to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night but there were plenty of positives to take from the defeat.
It’s difficult to claim that Rodgers’ team selection was vindicated, as ultimately Liverpool still lost, but the performance was certainly better than had been feared even before talk of wholesale changes arose.
In fact, it was probably the most defensively solid performance we’ve ever seen under Rodgers. Kolo Toure marshalled the defence excellently and Simon Mignolet‘s confidence will have been helped a whole lot by his display in goal, making some crucial saves.
Here’s a round up of fans reactions and talking points from the match:
There’s much praise for Liverpool’s defence, and Toure in particular;
Much talk surrounded Gerrard’s exclusion, of course;
What’s your thoughts on the result and performance? Let us know in the comments below.
.
A spirited Liverpool performance saw Brendan Rodgers‘ much changed side lose 1-0 to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night but there were plenty of positives to take from the defeat.
It’s difficult to claim that Rodgers’ team selection was vindicated, as ultimately Liverpool still lost, but the performance was certainly better than had been feared even before talk of wholesale changes arose.
In fact, it was probably the most defensively solid performance we’ve ever seen under Rodgers. Kolo Toure marshalled the defence excellently and Simon Mignolet‘s confidence will have been helped a whole lot by his display in goal, making some crucial saves.
Here’s a round up of fans reactions and talking points from the match:
There’s much praise for Liverpool’s defence, and Toure in particular;
Much talk surrounded Gerrard’s exclusion, of course;
What’s your thoughts on the result and performance? Let us know in the comments below.
.
