[Sport] Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp faces questions on recruitment after Champions League exit to Real Madrid

[Mr.Talha]

 

Liverpool's all-conquering season that brought them the club's first league title in 30 years seemed an age away as they were eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final at a deserted Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp's side, who carried all before them in the league last season, are now left with only the Premier League's top four - and a place in Europe's elite competition next term - to aim for if they are to salvage something from this fragmented, disappointing, injury-hit campaign.

As Zinedine Zidane's players celebrated a professional job that saw them set up a Champions League semi-final against Chelsea, Klopp was left to ponder Liverpool's fall from grace in the past 12 months.

He will no doubt face calls from frustrated Reds fans to revamp a squad that has served him and the club magnificently in recent seasons - indeed the social media jury was already delivering that knee-jerk verdict moments after elimination.

Liverpool knocked out of Champions League by Real Madrid
Relive Liverpool v Real Madrid Champions League exit
Listen to BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast
The manager, quite rightly, will guard against over-reaction. Liverpool have achieved too much and have too many high-class players for that - but that does not mean he does not have serious questions to consider.

So does this Liverpool squad really need a major overhaul, or just minor renewal?

A team as good as Liverpool have been seems an unlikely candidate for an extensive rebuild - but fresh faces can create momentum, renewal and a new mood, and this group has been together a long time.

When Liverpool and Real met in the Champions League final in Kyiv in 2018, Klopp's line-up included seven of those who started at Anfield on Wednesday.