German coach Jürgen Klopp of Liverpool described the heavy loss his team suffered against Real Madrid as a strong blow, noting that they need to learn from it in upcoming matches. Klopp stated in remarks to "BT Sport" after the match: "The start was wonderful. We were in our element. We had an ideal start, we played exactly as we wanted; the first half was good if we set aside the goals." He added: "After their first goal, we became a bit ineffective at the top of the pitch; we didn't chase them. The second goal came in a silly way, that shouldn't have happened, but it did, and we were equal at 2-2."
He continued: "The first situation after the break, they played a long ball to Vinicius. I'm not sure if it was a mistake or not. But our defense on that was not good. Then we fell behind 2-3." He further remarked: "This does not help us against a team that excels in counter-attacks; we couldn't get back on track after that. You need to play like the first half for 95 minutes in total, but you also need momentum."
Klopp added: "When the score became 3-2, it was the opposite. They became more confident and scored two brilliant goals, one of which came after a rebound (off the defender's foot). That's how it is; it’s a strange situation." He implicitly pointed fingers at his defense, saying: "We had 5 or 6 players, and there was no challenge (on one of the goals); that can't happen. We were passive when the ball came to us; the only way to slow down the game a bit is to keep the ball. We started the second half by losing the ball at strange moments."
Regarding the return match at the "Santiago Bernabeu" on March 15, the German coach said: "We will go there and play a match. We will face a huge challenge. But we need to play in the Premier League first and make sure we learn from this match."
