And while we’re at it...

FOOTBALL is a results business. The end justifies the means. Seeing that Brendan Rodgers switched his team around, lost to Real madrid and was then beaten at home by Chelsea, his gamble was not a success. Liverpool are now in the bottom half of the table, a point better off than West Bromwich Albion.

That is worrying, too, no matter the mitigation of injuries. Nobody at Liverpool expected to be one-season wonders in Europe having returned to the Champions League in such style.

The controversy in madrid could prove damaging to Rodgers’ personal ambitions, too. The big European clubs do not forget. In 1985-86 Juventus were drawn to play Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the European Cup. Despite not having their influential playmaker, Bernd Schuster, Barcelona progressed 2-1 on aggregate. They won 1-0 at home, scored the away goal in Turin and then defended it, Italian-style. Juventus were a good team that year. michel Platini was still in his prime and they won Serie A losing just three games.

And as a result of those matches, on odd occasions, Terry Venables would receive a call from Turin asking if he might be interested in the Juventus job. The timing was never right and the move didn’t happen, but on the back of two resilient performances — Barcelona were underdogs, but the better team over two legs — the Agnelli family kept his name on file.

By contrast, how will Rodgers be recalled in Spain? As the man who sent the second team out at the Bernabeu. They will not look beyond the team sheet or regard his decision as brave or pragmatic. They will recall one shot on target and a Liverpool that appeared almost happy in defeat. And they have long memories over there.