Dean Saunders, a former Liverpool striker, told talkSPORT that Trent Alexander-Arnold broke the “golden rule” by being worn out by Vinicius Junior during Real Madrid’s spectacular 5-2 Champions League victory at Anfield (21 February, 11pm).
Alexander-defensive Arnold’s shortcomings are well known at this point. In a matchup with arguably the most terrifying left-winger in all of football, the odds are that he was always going to lose.
Alexander-Arnold contributed to a dismal defensive showing by a Liverpool team that allowed five goals for the first time ever in a Champions League encounter, but Saunders still expected a lot better.
“He has still not learned,” Saunders sights, highlighting Alexander-Arnold’s apparent inability to stop Vinicius from cutting inside onto his ruthless right boot.
Liverpool former player Saunders aadded, “There was an example of how to defend against him, from Virgil van Dijk. There was an instance when (Real Madrid) broke, they had three streaming through the middle. Van Dijk was one v one with Vinicius and he said; ‘Go on! Push it outside and see if you can beat me’.”
“If you come inside, you’ve got all the goal to aim at. Golden rule (is stopping that).”
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Liverpool thrashed by Real Madrid at Anfield
Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah scored early goals for Jurgen Klopp’s struggling team to give them a 2-0 lead within of 14 minutes, giving them optimism for one of those “great European evenings at Anfield.” The latter goal came as a result of a weird Thibaut Courtous error.
But, all of that hard work was quickly undone. Between the 21st and 67th minute, Real Madrid went from a 2-0 deficit to a 5-2 lead, with even the typically dependable Alisson Becker and Van Dijk having a forgettable game.
“I thought it was total disregard for defending,” Saunders adds. “It’s like as if they are saying; ‘Right, we’ll just play when we get it, and you play when you get it. Its like a boxing match. And Liverpool got knocked out.“
“You’re thinking; ‘Can they go there (to Madrid for the second leg) and not concede a goal’?
The former Liverpool star said, “Don’t let Rodrygo come inside! Make Vinicius go down the outside! Don’t get too tight. Midfielders don’t give the ball away in the middle of the pitch. It’s like they need to go back to the basics.”
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