Virgil Van Dijk has emphasized that Liverpool played a good first half against Real and that they could have avoided the second goal of the “Merenches”, he believes that in the second half they were passive on the ball against a solid and quality team, he asked to attempt the miracle in Madrid and gave the signal for the championship match with Crystal Palace
It had all started so well for Jurgen Klopp’s side on Tuesday night as they raced into a 2-0 lead through goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah in the opening 15 minutes.
But Real Madrid hit back as Vinicius Junior scored twice to level the match, with the Brazilian’s second coming after an error from Liverpool goalkeeper Allison Becker.
Eder Militao put the reigning European champions ahead for the first time in the second half, before Benzema added to Liverpool’s woes with the French star scoring twice to give Real Madrid a three-goal advantage ahead of the second leg after completing a 5-2 win.
It was a hugely damaging night for the Reds in what was the heaviest home defeat in the club’s history and Van Dijk claimed they now need a miracle if they are to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals.
“We had a good first half, where we had full intensity. Then they scored a goal that I think we could have avoided but it was a great goal. After the first half we weren’t good on the ball, we were too passive. The harsh reality is that we are 5-2 behind and have an almost impossible task to pull off the upset in Madrid” Van Dijk said.
“Football is about miracles and we hope we can do a miracle in Madrid. We should be more solid, they punished us with the quality they have. We have enough good stuff, we should stick together.
“Not our best season as a club but that’s part of football. It’s about how you handle setbacks. Now we have to regroup for the next match against Crystal Palace. This is the reality” he added.
