Liverpool's and Arnold's horrendous defending for Real Madrid's third goal highlighted in new footage

Liverpool's defending for Eder Militao's goal during their 5-2 thrashing by Real Madrid gets worse every time you see it.

Real humiliated the Reds at Anfield in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 clash. The tie now looks over.

Liverpool had stormed into a 2-0 lead after just 14 minutes when Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah caught the away side napping.

Was this going to be another famous European night on Merseyside?

Well, yes but for all the wrong reasons.

By half-time, it was 2-2 as a Vinicius Jr brace levelled the scores.

Everyone needed a 15-minute break.

But perhaps the most important goal of the game was scored just minutes into the second half. And it was awful from a Liverpool perspective.

Joe Gomez gave away a clumsy free-kick when he fouled Vinicius Jr near the touchline.

It allowed Luka Modric to deliver a ball in from a very dangerous area.

He did just that to find Militao, who headed the ball home.

But who on earth was marking him?

ATA or nobody.

Liverpool left Militao all alone to score Real Madrid's winning goal 😮 pic.twitter.com/6uOJtvntpD

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 21, 2023

That's because Liverpool were set up with zonal marking so Militao wandered into a 'zone' where absolutely no Liverpool defender occupied.

And new footage now shows exactly how it happened.

When Modric lined up the free-kick, Militao was stood next to Trent Alexander-Arnold who was marking the space at the back post.

As Militao bursts towards the near post, Karim Benzema threatens to exploit the space left behind. It leaves Alexander-Arnold with the impossible decision to follow Militao and leave his 'zone' - allowing Benzema space at the back post - or staying put.

He chose the latter - as the zonal tactics dictate - and Militao took full advantage.

VIDEO: Liverpool's defending for Militao's goal