Playing in the Champions League is the pinnacle for any football club. For a club with such esteemed history as Liverpool, that’s no different.
The 2014/15 season saw the club competing in Europe’s elite cup competition for the first time in five years. A second place finish in the Premier League the previous campaign had given hope that the club could take on the biggest teams in the world.
Such a match took place on this day in 2014. Eight years ago, Liverpool faced Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League group stage clash.
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Under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool went into the game in third place in the group. Madrid had won all three of their opening matches, having beaten the Reds 3-0 at Anfield in the reverse fixture.
It was Liverpool’s first trip to the Bernabeu since February 2009, which ended in a 1-0 defeat. However, before the Reds even took to the pitch, there were plenty of headlines being made.
Rodgers had made the bold decision to leave out club captain Steven Gerrard for what was arguably Liverpool’s biggest game of the season. He was placed on the bench, with Lucas Leiva, Joe Allen and Emre Can utilised in midfield in the Spanish capital.
Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson, Philippe Coutinho and Mario Balotelli were also among the substitutes. Despite this, it was the decision to leave out Gerrard which dominated the headlines.
For full context, the full line-up that Rodgers selected that night was: Mignolet, Manquillo, Toure, Skrtel, Moreno, Lucas, Allen, Can, Lallana, Markovic, Borini. Liverpool lost the match 1-0, thanks to a goal from Karim Benzema.
Rodgers’ decision led to plenty of debate and criticism from sections of the media both in England and in Spain. Canal Plus and Cuatro presenter Julio Maldonado wrote on Twitter that he couldn’t believe what he saw with the team selection.
"Tough to believe it, but Liverpool line up without Gerrard and Sterling,” said Maldonado. “Irrespective of the result, I think a giant club like Liverpool and the greatest competition don't deserve that."
Gary Lineker was also stunned by the line-up that Rodgers selected. As is the case with the renowned pundit voicing his opinions on Twitter, it was no different in November 2014.
He said: "Rodgers has left out [Jordan] Henderson, Sterling, [Mario] Balotelli, Gerrard and [Philippe] Coutinho at Real Madrid. He has, though, thrown in a white towel.
"Selecting a weakened side in Europe's premier competition, especially against Real Madrid, is unbefitting of a club of Liverpool's stature. If I were one of Liverpool's star players, I'd be choked to be left out of a game at the Bernabeu against the European champions."
Rodgers defended his team selection, though, insisting that he chose the best possible team to get the result. He even made a point to respond to Lineker’s comments about his team selection.
"I didn't see this as a big showcase game where I had to play the so-called names," said Rodgers after the defeat in Madrid. "It might have seemed a gamble but for me it wasn't.
“I think the performance says the words. Gary is a figure who I respect and was a top player in his day but he's never been a manager, so he has never truly understood what it is like in terms of picking players.
"I respect his opinion but I think the words were played out by my team. The performance was far from throwing the white towel in. Right to the very end my players put in a performance befitting of the wonderful club this is. That would be my answer."
The match would prove to be a turning point for Gerrard, despite him only playing for 22 minutes in Spain. Just two months later, he would announce that he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the 2014/15 season, ending a 28-year occasion with the club.
"This has been the toughest decision of my life, one both me and my family have agonised over for a good deal of time," said Gerrard in January 2015.
He added: "I won't be playing for a competing club and will not therefore be lining up against Liverpool.
"My decision is completely based on my wish to experience something different in my career and life and I also want to make sure that I have no regrets when my playing career is eventually over.
"From now until the last kick of the last game of the season, I will be as fully committed to the team as I ever have been and giving everything I have to help Liverpool win games."
Months later, after leaving Liverpool, Gerrard would admit that the omission from the starting line-up from that trip to Madrid pushed him over the edge into the decision to leave. The midfielder had always spoken very highly about Rodgers, but he admitted that he did not like the decision not to start him in Spain.
“This was around the time when I was doing a lot of thinking about what’s next because I’d had a couple of chats with Brendan saying he was going to start managing my games,” Gerrard told BT Sport in June 2015.
“‘I have to look after you and I want you to be fresh and I don’t want you to be playing three games in a week because you may be tired’, and stuff like that.
“But this situation was unique because it was Real Madrid and I wanted to play.
“When I was told I wasn’t playing for the sake of the team, because of my relationship with Brendan, I took it and I accepted it.
“But I sat on that bench devastated because I wanted to play. It pushed me into making a decision to move on and try something different.”
Gerrard would eventually sign for LA Galaxy after leaving Liverpool. Less than a year after that defeat in Madrid, Rodgers would also be out the door and replaced by Jurgen Klopp.
Whilst it was already built up as a big match for Liverpool, it turned out to be an even more significant turning point than anyone could have imagined when Rodgers submitted his team news.
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