Liverpool midfielder stuck in 'difficult space' as fresh problem considered

Liverpool teenage midfielder Trey Nyoni is in an unusual situation as head coach Rob Page responds to UEFA Youth League defeat against Real Madrid

If Arne Slot and Liverpool handed out a Champions League lesson to Real Madrid on Tuesday evening, earlier in the day it was the Reds' youngsters who were on the receiving end. And a thumping loss at home to the Spaniards in the UEFA Youth League exposed an issue for one player in particular.

An under-19 side helmed by Rob Page were beaten 4-0 by their Real Madrid counterparts during a chastening afternoon at the Academy in Kirkby, the visitors a goal ahead at the interval before running away with the game in the second half.

Trey Nyoni, the 18-year-old midfielder who is skippering Liverpool in the competition this season, was among several players to fail to live up to their usual standard.

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The teenager also had a tough time when making only his second senior appearance of the campaign in the previous week's 3-0 League Cup exit at home to Crystal Palace.

With Nyoni having also been an unused substitute five times for Slot's side, the youngster is in a position, similar to Rio Ngumoha, where his senior requirements mean he isn't gaining as much action as would be preferred at Academy level.

Indeed, by playing all 360 minutes so far in the UEFA Youth League, he has more in that competition than every other combined this season at any club level.

It is contributing to a tough balancing act. "I think that's a fair assessment and Trey would probably agree with that," said Page. "He is in a difficult space right now, and it's about keeping him confident and managing his expectations of his involvement in the first team.

"But it is a difficult space for a young player. He is still a young lad, don't forget, and he's had involvement in the first team from an early age.

"Now it's about managing his minutes, giving him game time, but also maintaining the standards he has set as well. If you ask him, he's probably fallen a bit below that for whatever reason but we will get him back on track. He is a talented, talented footballer."

Real Madrid retained their 100% start to the UEFA Youth League with a comprehensive victory against a Liverpool side who nevertheless remain in a good position to qualify for the knockout stages.

"We knew we were in for a tough game," said Page. "We said in the dressing room after the game, in development football when you play in competitions like this against teams like this, you have to take learnings from it.

"It's hard when you are bringing two teams together. We have two centre-backs who don't play together, it's tough when basically your three forwards are from the U21s and most of the rest are from the U18s and you get one day on the pitch to prepare.

"You could see in Real Madrid's team, they play together week in week out. You could see that in the relationships on the pitch and their reactions."

Page added: "Forget tactics and individual ability, what I said to the players at half-time is I thought Real were outrunning us a bit. That's about wanting to do the work. That was disappointing. Real looked a lot more physical.

"Real knew when to go down and get a free-kick and everybody needs to learn that part of the game. But it wasn't just about that - I thought Real's overall game was very, very good.

"We have seven points from four games. You want to win your home games and pick up points on the road, but we've been doing it the other way around. We'll dust ourselves down and learn from it."

Liverpool finish the opening stage with games at home to PSV Eindhoven and away at Inter Milan. The top 22 qualify for the knockout rounds, with the Reds presently three points clear of the cut-off point.

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