UCL Jordan Henderson: Real Madrid punished us every time tonight

Liverpool's captain Jordan Henderson speaks after the Reds' 5-2 Champions League defeat to Real Madrid.

Jordan Henderson expressed his frustration following the defeat at the hands of Real Madrid, saying his team made too many mistakes on the night, for which their visitors did not hesitate to punish them.

Liverpool blew a two-goal lead to lose 5-2 to Real Madrid on Tuesday night at Anfield, handing Real Madrid the advantage ahead of the second leg in Santiago Bernabeu.

Real Madrid lead into the second leg

Darwin Nunez's goal in the fourth minute gave Liverpool the early edge, and Mohamed Salah's goal 10 minutes later doubled their lead.

Vinicius scored for the hosts in the game's 21st minute to start the comeback and tied the score in the 36th minute. Before Eder Militao gave Los Blancos their first-ever lead in the game just after halftime.

Karim Benzema further increased the margin with his 55th-minute strike, before putting daylight between themselves and their generous host in the 81st minute of the game through a lucky deflection that made the game 5-2. 

Henderson, speaking after the game, believes his team were the architect of their own downfall, as they made mistake after mistake to the benefit of their opposition.

He believed his team started the game well, scoring two goals, and felt they played well enough to be ahead up until half-time, but for defensive errors.

 "Very difficult. It's hard to sum it up straight after the game. Mixed feelings. Frustration with the result,” Henderson told BT Sports, per the BBC.

"For large parts of the first-half we performed well and were unlucky to be level at half-time.

"We made too many mistakes. Real Madrid punished us every time tonight.

"A lot was [down to] their quality. We didn't help ourselves for sure. We didn't defend it [Real's third goal] well enough. After that there was a few balls we could do better. The game went away from us at that point.

"The last two games we kept clean sheets. It's hard. it's difficult to come here and speak. Yes, they have a lot of quality. When you're not 100% defending they punish you. We caused ourselves problems at times.

Henderson explains that the return leg is not something his team has to worry themselves with at the moment, saying his team has to move on quickly from the disappointing result as they have league responsibilities before they have to play Real Madrid again.

"It's [the second leg] still a few weeks away. We have to move on quickly. We have Premier League games before then so we have to concentrate on that, and cross this bridge when we come to it."

'It was a huge setback' - Alan Shearer

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Alan Shearer commented on Liverpool's loss, and he believes it is a huge setback. Liverpool have struggled this season, but in their last two games before the ill-fated encounter against Real Madrid, they beat Everton and Newcastle with clean sheets, and it looked like they had their issues solved. The magnitude of this loss makes Shearer see it as a setback in their season.

"It was a huge setback tonight," he said.

"Not just the defeat but it was the manner of it. You don't concede the goals they did tonight unless there are issues in the camp like they have at the moment."

Shearer also criticised Liverpool's defending on the day, saying they were hopeless at the back.

"Liverpool were hopeless at the back. I was concerned after the Newcastle game because Newcastle created a lot of chances and it is because they are not good at the back."

"When you allow a defender a free header from a free kick, and your goalkeeper makes a mistake and Joe Gomez doesn't get close enough to close down Vinicius Jr it all adds up."

Liverpool will look to shake off the defeat, and consolidate on consecutive wins in the Premier League when they travel to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace this weekend.

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