Brendan Rodgers sent a reserve team into the lion's den as he made seven changes to the Liverpool starting line-up for the Champions League match at the Bernabeu. There was no Steven Gerrard, no Raheem Sterling and no Jordan Henderson in the starting XI against Real Madrid on Tuesday. In their place were Lucas Leiva, Emre Can and Fabio Borini - hardly renowned as stalwarts of Liverpool's first-choice team so far this season. In some quarters, Rodgers' men have been described as 'brave', as 'plucky', as having 'given a good account of themselves'. Hard work and team ethic is a commendable attribute, but this is the Champions League - Europe's elite competition.
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Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0 at the Bernabeu on Wednesday
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Brendan Rodgers made seven changes to Liverpool starting line-up
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Reds managed just one shot on target compared to Real's nine
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Real had 27 shots in total but Liverpool had just four at Bernabeu
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Sportsmail goes through all the damning statistics from the match
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Liverpool fans paid £59 a ticket, not to mention other costs, to be there
Steven Gerrard (left) started the game on the bench and came on as a substitute for @placeholder