LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Tuesday, February 21, 2023: Liverpool's captain Jordan Henderson looks dejected during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 1st Leg game between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Average Liverpool player ratings vs. Real Madrid as Gomez and others struggle

There were too many poor performances in Liverpool’s sobering 5-2 defeat at home to Real Madrid, with Joe Gomez particularly below par.

Goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah seemed to hand Liverpool a commanding lead early on, but Vinicius Jr.’s double brought them crashing back down to reality.

Things only got worse from then on, with Eder Militao making it 3-2 and the evergreen Karim Benzema adding a further two goals.

Here we compare our player ratings with those of the Liverpool Echo, the i, WhoScored, FotMob and the This Is Anfield readers.

Gomez (3.8) had a dreadful evening and got the worst average rating, arguably playing a negative role in three of the goals.

The 25-year-old looks like an increasingly error-strewn player these days and there are surely question marks over his long-term future.

Ian Doyle thought of the Echo thought Gomez “could have got closer to Vinicius” for the first goal, while Oliver Young-Myles of the i criticised his “clumsy, needless foul” in the lead up to the third.

The second-worst performer was Alisson (3.9), who absolutely gifted Vinicius one of his goals with a woeful error.

TIA’s Mark Delgado felt it was a “dispiriting” night for the Brazilian, who was otherwise solid apart from his costly mistake.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Tuesday, February 21, 2023: Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 1st Leg game between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Next in the reckoning was Virgil van Dijk (4.9), who still look well short of his best after his return from injury.

Doyle did at least note a “couple of vital interceptions” by the towering centre-back, but this was far from a vintage showing.

There were some players who made positive contributions, of course, and Salah (7.2) got the best average.

The Egyptian became Liverpool’s all-time leading goalscorer in Europe, also assisting Nunez’s opener, with Delgado calling him “untouchable” at times in the first half.