Liverpool’s coach said that trust in the team that sent to the field in the match with Real Madrid, and suggested that it was also very hard to win at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson and Mario Balotelli started on the bench the game with Real Madrid. Those absences were contested by Liverpool fans who had hoped for a positive result on the Bernabéu.
Brendan Rodgers seems to have made this choice and because that will face Chelsea this weekend. But the Reds tactician said that made this first XI with confidence that elected footballers are able to get even a draw in Madrid.
“I knew what I was doing, I knew what the team would be tonight in order to hopefully get the result, we’ve seen that we nearly got that, we certainly got the performance,” he told ITV.
“We’re disappointed with the result but performance-wise there are many positives. Some of the young players did very well, they’re adapting to Liverpool, and we’ll take the positives from the game.
“I think [disappointment] is maybe understandable, because I think most people read into names on a team-sheet, but I’ve got to manage a squad that’s got seven games in 21 days and we’ve had a real tough one tonight.
“We didn’t rest players for Saturday, I picked what I thought was a team that could get the result for us tonight and I think the performance showed that.
“We might have lost 5-0 [with a different XI], I had every confidence that the players tonight would do well and I don’t think that any of the other players tonight would’ve put in the performance that we put in.
“I think it’s the first game since the Super Cup that Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t scored in, so it shows you how well we defended and I think our possession in the game was very good.”
