Liverpool suffer biggest Champions League aggregate defeat

• Karim Benzema’s late strike condemned Liverpool to a 1-0 loss in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League clash on Wednesday night
• Liverpool, Champions League winners in 2019, had earlier suffered a 5-2 defeat at Anfield three weeks ago

Karim Benzema’s late strike as Real Madrid faced Liverpool condemned the Reds to a 1-0 loss in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League clash.

Liverpool have exited the Champions League with a 6-2 aggregate, which is their biggest ever aggregate defeat in the tournament.

Liverpool’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Virgil van Dijk appreciate fans at Santiago Bernabeu after loss to Real Madrid. Photo/ Goal.com.

Liverpool, Champions League winners in 2019, had earlier suffered a 5-2 defeat at Anfield three weeks ago. The capitulation at Anfield had left them needing a miraculous European comeback so as to proceed to the quarter-finals. However, things didn’t go as they expected at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Karim Benzema’s close-range strike in the 78^th minute saw Real Madrid win over Liverpool by the same scoreline in last year’s final.

Speaking after the defeat, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp told BT Sport that his side couldn’t put on a special performance on the pitch to go past the round of 16. The German admitted that Real Madrid proceeded to the last eight because they were the better team.

“Being 5-2 down is obviously not a great result and if you want to go through, you need to have a really special performance, and we couldn’t put a special performance on the pitch tonight. It was an open game but Madrid had better chances… The right team went through that’s what we have to admit. Madrid controlled the game, we gave them the opportunity to control it.” Sky Sports quotes Jurgen Klopp.

No team in Champions League history had come back from three goals down after a home leg and it didn’t change at the Bernabeu in Madrid. An open start to the game saw two outstanding saves from Alisson in the first twenty minutes.

Liverpool had a decent chance but Diogo Jota couldn’t take it. Darwin Nunez was a big threat throughout the first half but Thibaut Courtois was not letting his shots go past him.

Jurgen Klopp made changes in the second half but there was no real impact from his players. Karim Benzema got a goal towards the end of the match to punish Liverpool for their naive approach when they were 2-0 up at Anfield three weeks ago.

Karim Benzema celebrates after scoring for Real Madrid against Liverpool at Santiago Bernabeu. Photo/ Sporting News.

Last season, Liverpool were in the hunt for a quadruple until the final week of the season. They won two domestic cups but missed on the Premier League title to Manchester City on the final day before losing to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final several days later.

This time, the Reds have no hope of winning any title after being eliminated on the Champions League by Real Madrid last night. They sit sixth on the Premier League table, with goal difference above seventh-placed Brighton.

Liverpool’s front three that took them to three Champions League finals in five years is breaking up. Sadio Mane already left to Bayern Munich and Roberto Firmino is expected to leave Anfield this summer. This means that only Mohamed Salah will be left.