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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Victor

Luis Diaz handed brutal L'Equipe rating after Liverpool's Champions League final loss

Liverpool forward Luis Diaz had been in impressive form going into the Champions League final, but an under-par display saw him handed the lowest rating of any Reds player in French paper L'Equipe's notoriously tough player ratings.

Diaz started on the left of the front three for Jurgen Klopp's side, with Mohamed Salah on the right and Sadio Mane playing through the middle. However, after being subdued by experienced right-back Dani Carvajal, the Colombian was withdrawn in the 65th minute.

The former Porto star was given a rating of three out of 10, with no Liverpool player scoring lower. However, manager Klopp was given an identical rating by the French publication after the Reds fell to a 1-0 defeat.

Diaz, who joined Liverpool for £37.5m in January, had scored six times since arriving from Porto. This included goals in the quarter-final of the Champions League against Benfica and the semi against Villarreal.

Things were tougher for the 25-year-old in Paris, though. He cut a frustrated figure for most of his time on the pitch, and eventually made way for Diogo Jota just a few minutes after what ended up being the winning goal from Vinicius Jr.

Madrid's match-winner only managed to score six, the same as Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, but he got the better of the England international when it mattered most. Only three players scored higher: Carvajal and Mohamed Salah both scored seven, with man of the match Thibaut Courtois earning a nine.

Did Jurgen Klopp get things wrong against Real Madrid? Have your say in the comments section

Diaz found things tough against Real Madrid (PA)

Klopp suggested Courtois' man of the match award meant there was "something wrong," as the Premier League runners-up created more but couldn't find a way past the Belgian. "They scored a goal, we didn't," the German said when asked about the defeat.

"That's the easiest explanation in the world of football. Harsh, but we respect it of course. When the goalkeeper is man of the match something is wrong. Something is going wrong for the other team.

"I think Madrid had one shot on target and it was a goal. But I understand 100% and respect it 100% that the reason for playing football and having competitions is to win the game. Whatever you do, within the rules, is completely fine. We played a good game, but when you lose 1-0 you have to admit it wasn't good enough."

Courtois might have fallen short of a 10/10 rating, but the perfect score is notoriously difficult to attain. Indeed, France striker Kylian Mbappe became only the 12th ever player to notch a perfect 10 when he scored four times against Kazakhstan in 2021.

"I saw a lot of tweets saying I would get humbled," Courtois said after the final whistle. "It was the other way round.

"Today I needed to win a final - for my career, for all the hard work, to put respect on my name because I don’t think I have enough respect, especially England. I saw a lot of criticism that I was not good enough or whatever."

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