Jamie Carragher says Liverpool defense in ‘shambles’ after embarrassing Champions League loss to Real Madrid

Liverpool will want to quickly forget what took place at Anfield on Tuesday, but it’s a result that will long be hard to ignore and could have serious repercussions for a club that not long ago was at the summit world football. A 5-2 defeat at home to Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16 first leg has left the Reds at what feels like rock bottom. 

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After jumping ahead 2-0 in the first 15 minutes, Jurgen Klopp’s side witnessed its UCL campaign collapse for the remaining 75 minutes with an underwhelming performance not much different than how they fared in Premier League play, where they sit in eighth.

Club legend Jamie Carragher did not hold back during the UEFA Champions League Post-Match Show on CBS Sports and Paramount+, not only calling out the backline, but the entire squad. “[They’ve] have been absolutely shambles defensively,” Carragher said. 

“So this Liverpool defense now — who we’ve been told for years have got some of the best players in the world — can’t cope. For years they’ve had a front six in front of them that worked harder and smarter than any other team in world football. And now that’s gone. It has completely [fallen] apart.”

He’s exactly right and the numbers prove it. So far this season, Liverpool are allowing 1.27 goals per game in the Premier League and 1.57 in the Champions League, the latter inflated a bit due to Tuesday’s score. That 1.57 in UCL is up from the 1.07 from last season and the 0.92 in their Champions League-winning campaign in 2019.

As for the 1.27 in the league, just a season ago the Reds were allowing 0.68 goals per game, conceding only 26 times in 38 games.

But why? Well, there are a lot of factors. Virgil van Dijk, who Carragher joked he could replace in the lineup, missed seven games this season with a hamstring injury and hasn’t looked 100 percent. Trent Alexander-Arnold seems to get worse defensively with each passing game and Joe Gomez has been filled with errors. and that’s just the defense.

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An aging midfield has struggled to stay healthy and lost its step, and the defensive pressure that used to be applied by the likes of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and the now-departed Sadio Mane has not been replicated. We have to remember that both Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez are new players and now starters, with Gakpo helping the team deal with the long-term injury to Luis Diaz. While Gakpo and Nunez have the capability to press, they don’t have the top-level speed that made Mane so good. Diaz does, but again, when you are dealing with such a significant injury, you have to find ways to adapt. 

The Reds haven’t adapted, though. And at times, they’ve looked overly predictable going forward with the midfield and defense patching up glaring issues that have seen a juggernaut reduced to a more expensive version of Brighton … except not nearly as exciting to watch. 

Here’s the clip:

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry went as far as to call it an “end of era” for Liverpool, and it certainly feels like it. An aging squad needs a massive overhaul before it’s too late, but it may just be in terms of Champions League qualification. Likely out in the round of 16 with next month’s second leg looming and seven points back of the top four, this team might not even make Europa Conference League next season, let alone UCL or Europa League. 

“They are fragile. Something needs to change,” Henry said. “I don’t think Klopp needs to go. That’s not what I’m saying. But some of the players don’t have the level anymore to play for Liverpool … I think it’s the end of an era, and it’s been for a little while.”