Virgil van Dijk acknowledged Liverpool were at fault for their mistakes in their Champions League loss to Real Madrid but argued they cannot expect to perform like "robots".
Liverpool blew a two-goal lead at Anfield, slumping to a 5-2 loss in the first leg of their last-16 tie against the holders.
Amid a difficult season for Jurgen Klopp's side, their collapse against Madrid made for a chastening rematch of last year's final, which finished 1-0 to Los Blancos in Paris.
Van Dijk did not dispute another off-colour performance yet the centre-back stressed errors are to be expected when players are only human.
"[Across] the whole of the Champions League, there are quality players all over teams," he told reporters. "They can punish you, and can punish the mistakes that you make.
"That's what they did in the second half, and it is pretty clear to see. [There were] mistakes that we shouldn't make, but it happens in football.
"We're not robots, sometimes mistakes happen. That is the case. The only thing we can do is learn from it and focus on the next one to ensure it doesn't happen [again]."
After goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah had given them a two-goal cushion inside the opening 15 minutes, Liverpool seemed on course for a memorable Anfield triumph.
Yet their defensive frailties came to the fore as Vinicius Junior curled in a supreme finish before pouncing on Alisson's mistake to restore parity.
Eder Militao put Madrid ahead early in the second half before Karim Benzema's double left the hosts with a mountain to climb in the return leg next month.
Klopp was less than impressed with cheap concessions, but did feel his side's first-half performance was among the best they have delivered this campaign.
"We gave all five goals away," he said in his post-match press conference.
"All five. We could have done better there [but] in our situation where we are, it is really important we that see positive steps.
"I think the first half, aside from the two goals we conceded, was the best we've played [across] the whole season.
"The second half obviously was the game Real Madrid wanted to play, and that's how we came to the result."
Slot deserves praise for modest approach to Liverpool job – Mills
Arne Slot deserves praise for not being "arrogant" with his approach to succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool boss, according to Danny Mills.
The Dutchman has made a hugely positive start to life at Anfield since replacing long-serving Klopp ahead of the 2024-25 season.
The 28 points Slot has collected is the joint-most of any manager in their opening 11 Premier League games along with Guus Hiddink at Chelsea.
Liverpool's only blemish on an otherwise perfect start to the top-flight campaign was a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in September.
Indeed, only in 2019-20 (31 points) have Liverpool collected more points after 11 games of a Premier League season than their 28 this campaign.
Former Leeds United and Manchester City defender Mills has been particularly impressed by Slot's approach to a new era at Anfield.
"Arne Slot has surprised me," Mills told Stats Perform. "They did have a difficult defeat against Nottingham Forest at home. That was a defeat not many people saw that coming, but the start he's had is unbelievable. It's incredible.
"Training might be slightly different, but the style of play is very similar. The players are comfortable with it. They've been high-energy, closing people down, and playing at 100 miles an hour when they win the ball back.
"It shows managerial intelligence to understand the players' qualities and build on what they had when they were successful. He hasn't overthought it or tinkered too much.
"He hasn’t been arrogant and said, 'I'm going to rip it up and start fresh'. It wasn't broken; it was already successful. He's just added to it."
Liverpool won a first ever Premier League title during Klopp's eight-and-a-half years in charge, as well the Champions League in 2018-19.
Klopp also lifted the FA Cup, two EFL Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, setting a high benchmark to follow.
"Liverpool identified the man they wanted, brought him in, and he's been very clever," Mills added. "He looked at the squad and thought, 'these are good players. I don't need to change too much'.
"That's smart because Liverpool were very successful under Klopp. If you come in and rip up the playbook and it doesn't work, players will question why they're not doing what worked under Klopp."
Liverpool have conceded just six goals in the Premier League this season – four fewer than next-best Nottingham Forest.
They are conceding at a rate of around 0.5 goals per game, compared to around 1.1 in Klopp's final season in charge (41 goals in 38 matches).
"Slot has tweaked things slightly, maybe made them more defensively solid, which they needed to really challenge," Mills said. "Championship-winning or Champions League-winning teams are built on solid defences.
"You don't win without that. He's shored up the defence and allowed the players to continue doing what they were doing before."
Mbappe must improve to 'follow Ronaldo's path' at Madrid, says France World Cup winner Candela
Kylian Mbappe can "follow Cristiano Ronaldo's path at Real Madrid" if he works harder, according to former France defender and World Cup winner Vincent Candela.
The former Paris Saint-Germain forward has endured a tricky start to life with Los Blancos since making the switch as a free agent.
Despite scoring eight goals in 16 appearances across all competitions, Mbappe is yet to truly catch fire at Santiago Bernabeu, where his displays have been subjected to widespread criticism.
The France forward has underperformed his season's expected goals (xG) total by 2.04, while he was left out of Les Bleus' squad for their recent Nations League matches after failing to find the net in his last four appearances.
Mbappe is averaging a goal every 166 minutes in all competitions this term, compared to one every 88 minutes in his final campaign with PSG, and was flagged offside eight times during the humiliating 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in October.
Candela, who was part of France's squad that won the 1998 World Cup, says Mbappe must up his game in the Spanish capital.
However, the 51-year-old is confident his compatriot will do that and, if he does, can potentially emulate a Madrid icon, who became the club's leading scorer and won four Champions League titles during his glittering spell.
"He has to work harder in Spain. He can still grow and become a stronger player," Candela said in an interview with RB Sports, via Diario Sport.
"At Real Madrid, Mbappe is a player among others, while at PSG, he was an icon.
"I hope Mbappe can follow Cristiano Ronaldo's path at Real Madrid, but it's too early to compare them. First, he has to win the Champions League, as the Portuguese has done several times."
Man City squad still stronger than Liverpool's even with injuries – Mills
Manchester City still have a stronger squad than Premier League title rivals Liverpool even with their numerous injury lay-offs, according to Danny Mills.
Reigning champions City have lost their past four games in all competitions – the first time that has happened in Guardiola's illustrious managerial career – and trail league leaders Liverpool by five points.
Recently crowned Ballon d'Or winner Rodri heads City's list of absentees, which also includes Oscar Bobb, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku and Nathan Ake.
While former City full-back Mills believes Pep Guardiola still has the best selection of players to choose from in the division, he has questioned whether the club could be doing more to prevent the injuries.
"I think you can look at the injuries and say City still have the strongest squad in the world, without a shadow of a doubt," Mills told Stats Perform. "There are two internationals for every single position on the pitch.
"There's a part of me that then thinks, if you have that many injuries, you have to look at why you've got that many injuries. Are they all freak accidents?
"Are they all impact injuries where you had no choice in the matter? Are they muscle injuries where maybe you have to look at training? So there are lots of factors to look at.
"Is training too difficult? Are the players playing too many games? Is there not enough rotation within the squad? What does recovery look like?
"You can't just say, 'Oh, we're unlucky, we've got injuries'. Generally, there are reasons why you get injured. You always get two or three freak injuries that there's absolutely nothing you can do about. But you also have to look within and manage those situations."
City have successfully navigated games without the likes of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne in the past, both of whom are now back fit, but coping without holding midfielder Rodri is proving a more difficult task.
Guardiola's side have won 28 of their 36 games with Rodri in the side since the start of last season, losing none of those, while they have lost five of their 13 matches without the Spain international.
That win percentage drop-off from 77.8% with Rodri in the team to 53.8% without him also paints a clear picture, but Mills insists City can find a solution as they often have in the past.
"Every team has injuries, every single club that's ever won anything," he said. "Manchester City have done this before. They won the league without Sergio Aguero, playing a false nine at times.
"They went through spells without Vincent Kompany, without a centre-half. They found a way, and that's what the very, very best teams do. They find a way when maybe they haven't got their preferred 11.
"It's never easy to lose one of your main players, even if you have pretty adequate replacements. Rodri makes Manchester City tick. We've seen it before with Fernandinho in that role. He was absolutely superb.
"But you have to find a way around that. You still have Kevin De Bruyne. You still have Mateo Kovacic in there. You've still got Phil Foden that can drop into those spaces, Bernardo Silva. We've seen Ilkay Gundogan has been in there as well."
Losing four games in a row is also a rarity for City, having last done so in August 2006 when Stuart Pearce was manager of the club.
The most recent of those defeats, a 2-1 reverse at Brighton and Hove Albion, saw the Citizens lose a league game they led at half-time for the first time since May 2021 – also away at Brighton.
Liverpool have taken full advantage of City's blip as they have collected 28 points from the first 33 on offer – only in 2019-20 (31) have they accrued more at this stage.
However, Mills insists Guardiola's side are still more than capable of overhauling Liverpool, who they face at Anfield on 1 December.
"I don't think the title race is over by any stretch of the imagination. I know Liverpool are top at the moment, but City have been there, seen it, done it several times, with a manager who's done it as well.
"I know the Liverpool players have done it, but the manager hasn't been in this situation. Liverpool will go through a tricky spell. How they deal with that is yet unknown."
Mills also pointed to the uncertainty surrounding the future of Guardiola as another reason behind City's drop-off.
"Pep's future is uncertain, and I don't think that helps," Mills said. "We saw it with Alex Ferguson [at Manchester United] the first time around, when he said he was going to retire at the end of the season, and United dropped off.
"We saw it last season with Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool were top by about five points clear. I know City had a game in hand at that stage, but they ended up nine points behind Manchester City. It clearly has an effect.
"There will be the argument that Alex Ferguson won the title in his last season, but maybe after such a long time, that was just one last hurrah, and maybe that was more about the players."
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