"To be honest..." - Real Madrid star gives brutal assessment of Liverpool

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois gave a brutal assessment of Liverpool following their humiliating defeat.

The Reds got off to a flying start at Anfield after Darwin Nunez converted Mohamed Salah's cross with a sumptuous improvised flick.

Salah then doubled their advantage, sending supporters into dreamland.

However, Anfield soon descended into chaos after Vinicius Jr's quick fire double opened the floodgates.

A brace from Karim Benzema and Eder Militao's header completed the comeback in a 5-2 hammering.

Courtois calls Liverpool "fragile"

Speaking after the match, Courtois slammed Liverpool's defence, labelling them "fragile".

"Madrid will always be in the fight until the end. I think that Liverpool is not the same team from last year, you have to be honest. They are more fragile at the back,” the Belgian said.

“Madrid will always be one of the favourites (to win the Champions League). We’ll see how far we’ll go.”

Courtois was the hero of last year's Champions League final, making countless saves to deny Liverpool and help Los Blancos lift the trophy for the 14th time.

However, the 30-year-old was guilty of an error of own his own during Tuesday's game, gifting Salah Liverpool's second goal.

Madrid defender Dani Carvajal pinged a 35-yard backpass to Courtois, who opted to try and control the ball instead of punting it clear.

He then decided to take a couple of nervy touches before slipping, allowing Salah to pounce on the loose ball and bury it into the back of the net.

The truth is that it was a bit of bad luck screwing it up like that,” he added. “I controlled it well and at first, and I wanted to pass it.

“But I saw that Salah was standing still and I said; ‘Well, I’ll pass it to the right’. But it bounces off my knee (and into Salah’s path).”

Reds shot stopper Alisson was also left blushing at the other end, cannoning a wayward pass into Vincius which bounced off his shin and into the back of the net.

Jurgen Klopp will need a miracle in the second leg at the Bernabeu if they are to progress into the quarter-finals.

Topics: Thibaut Courtois, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Alisson, Champions League, Football

Joe Adams

Joe is a Journalist for SPORTbible with a primary focus on football. He has previously covered a number of other sports including boxing, rugby and F1. Wishes he was born left-footed.

@joeadamsjourno