Liverpool were disappointing and missed out on the chance to win a cup treble as they suffered a poor defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final on Saturday. The Reds were aiming for their third trophy of the season, but were made to pay for a string of missed chances and series of poor play.
Liverpool dominated the opening 45 minutes, but were almost made to pay for failing to take any of their chances when Karim Benzema scored late in the half. The French striker tapped in after Ibrahima Konate and Fabinho, only for VAR to disallow the goal.
The Reds could have had the lead on numerous occasions beforehand, but Thibaut Courtois was in fine form to deny Sadio Mane with one of the best saves in recent memory. Vinicius Jr made the difference when he popped up at the back post to tap in from close range with Madrid’s first shot on target of the match with half an hour to go.
Despite a brave performance from Liverpool, they were unable to make any of their chances pay and were ultimately made to pay for their ineffectiveness in front of goal. Here are Liverpool’s four worst players from the disappointing defeat.
Alisson Becker
Alisson Becker was in the fortunate position of barely having anything to do in the Liverpool goal, such was the Reds’ domination of the ball. However, when it truly mattered, he was twice unable to save his side. First, he allowed the ball to go past him for Benzema to tap in – and was lucky the offside flag went up.
Then, with Madrid’s only shot on target of the game at that point, he was unable to stop Vinicius Jr’s goal at the back post. While it could easily be argued the fault lies with Alexander-Arnold for failing to track his man, Alisson could and perhaps should have been instructing his back line with more authority.
