Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol claims he was not impressed by Liverpool’s performance against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
The Reds beat the German giants 3-1 at the Allianz Arena in the Champions League Round of 16 tie, having drawn 0-0 at Anfield in the first leg.
While many have praised Liverpool for coming through away from home, Nicol wasn’t a fan of their display in Munich, labelling the performance ‘atrocious’.
Nicol claimed that Liverpool came out on top due to Bayern effectively handing them the victory, through their own lack of tactical nous and direction.
Talking to ESPN, as reported by Mirror Sport, Nicol said:
I would love to say that Liverpool came and were just too clever and sat in a great spot. But the truth is that I don’t think Bayern knew what they wanted to do.
Clearly in the first leg they sat and gave nothing away.
But at home, and the reason we all thought they were favourites, you’d expect them to be pushing again, but they didn’t. They didn’t go forward, they just sort of sat and waited.
If you look at the stats, the only reason they had more possession was because Liverpool kept giving them the ball. That had nothing to do with what they were doing.
Liverpool on the ball in this game overall, I thought they were atrocious. I thought they were as bad as I’ve ever seen.
But it goes to show you stats don’t mean anything, and the only thing that matters is the scoreline, and Liverpool won 3-1.
Liverpool join fellow Premier League sides Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham in the competition’s final eight, as well as Juventus, Barcelona, Ajax and Porto.
