Real Madrid gained the upper hand in their Champions League quarter-final tie against Liverpool as they dished out a 3-1 defeat to the Reds in the first leg.

 

Vinicius Junior and Marco Asensio gave the home side a two-goal lead in the first half before Mohamed Salah scored an away goal for Liverpool early in the second half.

 

Real Madrid reclaimed their two-goal lead when Vinicius slotted his second of the night past Alisson in the 65th minute as Los Blancos held on to grab a decisive win over the Reds.

 

 

The Liverpool defence’s solidity was called into question after giving away two clumsy goals in the first half against Real Madrid with the lack of communication in the Reds’ backline being highlighted by former Manchester City midfielder De Jong.

 

De Jong singled out Reds right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold against Real Madrid as he insisted that the young full-back’s lack of communication and awareness led to Vinicius grabbing the first goal for Los Blancos.

 

 

”Its about communication, right”, De Jong said on beIN SPORTS.

 

“Everything is about communication.

 

 

“If Trent Alexander-Arnold sees that ball coming he’s the last man in that position on that line.

 

“He should say to the central defender, ‘watch your back’, even though the central defender doesn’t see him, I’m [Alexander-Arnold] responsible to close that gap.

 

“At the end of the day Vinicius is my direct opponent, so he has to close that gap.

 

“So this is everything to do with communication.”

 

Liverpool will look to amend their defensive errors when they welcome Real Madrid to Anfield for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final on 14th April.