Can Liverpool have a serious impact on the Champions League?

Mario Balotelli struggled to make an impact in Liverpool’s 3-0 home defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League last night

The reality of where they now are in the football food chain must have really hit Liverpool fans last night, as Real Madrid raced into a three goal lead at Anfield in the Champions League.

Those three first half goals were enough to secure a 3-0 win for the visitors. In truth the European champions just had too much quality for the Reds.

Outstanding

The Spaniards have been in red hot form in recent games and in the first 45 minutes on Merseyside they blew Liverpool away.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men were simply outstanding in the first half and could afford to take their foot off the gas with a big clash with El Clasico on Saturday.

Summer

A defeat against Real Madrid is no shame though. The men from Madrid have spent hundreds of millions in recent years assembling a squad capable of dominating La Liga and the Champions League.

Some would say it has been money well spent after Los Blancos claimed La Decima last May against arch-rivals Atletico Madrid. Since then they have even brought in World Cup stars Colombia’s James Rodriguez and Germany’s Toni Kroos.

While Real Madrid spent in the region of £90million on the highly-talented pair, Liverpool spent more than £100million bringing in players, some of whom were players with potential. Unfortunately Reds boss Brendan Rodgers transfer policy has not paid off yet.

The Reds team from last season needed tweaking slightly, especially the defence, which cost Rodgers side the Premier League title. The majority of the new arrivals at Anfield have struggled with life at one of English football’s most famous clubs.

Out of the summer arrivals only midfielder Adam Lallana, a childhood Everton fan and young full-back Alberto Moreno have looked like they have could make their time on Merseyside a success. The jury is still very much out on the rest of the summer signings.

Poor

One who already seems to have been found guilty of being a poor signing by the Liverpool fans is Italian striker Mario Balotelli. The former-AC Milan striker has struggled to make an impact at Anfield since his summer arrival.

Against Real he again failed to look like the superstar he is in his own head. The Italian international was substituted at half-time and replaced by midfielder Adam Lallana, after the striker swapped shirts with Real Madrid defender Pepe.

Signing a player with Balotelli’s track record of crazy behaviour was always going to be a risk. However, the striker has always shown enough potential for clubs to keep taking a chance on him. He has all the physical attributes to be a world-class striker, but his attitude stink.

When he is not on form he sulks, appears to be lazy and looks uninterested. At the moment the striker looks to have been a waste of £16million.

Defence

Signing Balotelli may have been a mistake, but the striker could not take the blame for last night’s defeat. Once again the Reds defence was all at sea against the dangerous Real Madrid forward line, which was missing Wales’s superstar Gareth Bale.

In yesterday’s article I talked about Liverpool’s leaky defence and once again it was exposed last night. Rodgers attempted to fix Liverpool’s defensive problems by bringing in the likes of Dejan Lovren and Alberto Moreno in the summer.

Their presence in the Liverpool defence has not solved the Reds defensive problems though and it has led to Liverpool making an unconvincing start to their campaign.

Rookie

It is easy to forget that Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is a Champions League rookie. However, this is Rodgers first season managing in Europe’s elite competition.

He is regarded as a highly promising British boss, but he does still have a lot to learn about the European game, even if he did once work under multiple Champions League winner Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. Some Liverpool fans are now asking if the Northern Irishman is the man for the job after the team’s slow start to the campaign, which is rather premature.

Qualification

Despite last night’s defeat Liverpool are still second favourites to qualify for the last 16 of the competition at odds of 3 /4.

It would be harsh to judge Liverpool on a defeat against the reigning European champions. However, the Reds recent displays suggest that they are not yet ready to make a serious impact in Europe’s elite competition.

How far can Liverpool go in the Champions League this season?