Liverpool players slammed for ‘lack of attitude’ vs Madrid as teammate pinpoints reason for defeat

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson was disappointed with his teammate’s “attitude” during the 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid on Wednesday night.

The Reds crashed out of the Champions League after a 6-2 aggregate defeat to the reigning European champions.

Jurgen Klopp’s side had to produce one of the best comebacks in their history to make it through to the last eight of the competition, but didn’t come close to doing so.

Darwin Nunez had a good chance early on in the match and had he scored it could have been a different result.

But alas, it was not to be and Liverpool were knocked out, meaning they must finish inside the top four of the Premier League to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Alisson made a few excellent saves at the Bernabeu and was not too impressed with the Liverpool outfielders.

The Brazil international insisted that he left the pitch with his head held high after by the vast majority of his teammates.

“I think that every moment of the season had its reason and today we can say that it was the attitude of the players on the field,” Alisson told TNT Sports. “Perhaps because of the first game, which was a very elastic score.

“Coming here, beating Real Madrid away from home, it’s hard to… speaking as a human being now, it’s hard for you to create that expectation of qualifying.

“Now, man, I’m wearing the Liverpool shirt, I’m going to play against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. The least I have to do is give my best.

“So that’s my thought, I believe I did my best, I leave here with a clear head. And now speaking as a team, we have much more to do. And this season of ups and downs, every moment had its reason.

“We had injuries, I think we don’t like to talk about it in football. We’re not going to use it as an excuse, but the injuries certainly hurt us.

“Now we only have one player left out, so that’s no longer an excuse. It’s been like this for over a month now.

“There was a lack of attitude, a lot was lacking on our part.”

Meanwhile, Alisson’s opposing number, Thibaut Courtois, believes Real Madrid’s continued success in Europe can offset the power of the Premier League.

While English clubs may have the financial might, the La Liga giants have shown they are still the side to be reckoned with at Europe’s elite level and a 6-2 aggregate victory over Liverpool put them into the last eight again.

“It’s hard to say whether it’s the best league or not but definitely with the new investment in Chelsea, City and Newcastle, there is a lot of attraction to go to the Premier League,” said the former Chelsea goalkeeper.

“It’s a really exciting league, that’s for sure, a big competitive league and the level is really high. But I think we demonstrate that we have a big team and that you cannot under-estimate Spanish teams. We showed it again.

“It’s obviously nice to beat English teams because I was there for a few years, but when you’re in the Champions League you want to win against everybody – maybe next it’s Portuguese and Italian clubs.”