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Jose Enrique admitted he was left bemused by Jurgen Klopp’s decision to start Naby Keita last night in Liverpool’s defeat to Real Madrid.

Keita, 26, was a surprise inclusion in the Reds starting XI on Tuesday in Spain.

The Merseyside outfit suffered a disappointing 3-1 defeat in the away leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie, with Mohamed Salah’s away goal giving at least some hope to cling onto.

Vinicius Junior (two) and Marco Asensio were both on the scoresheet for an impressive Madrid team that looked the part in the European showdown.

It’s going to take another historic night at Anfield to turn the tie around, but they’ve performed heroics before

Enrique wasn’t happy with Keita’s inclusion in the starting team.

The 26-year-old was intriguingly hooked off with a few minutes left of the first half after a struggling performance, albeit he wasn’t the only individual miles off the pace in the opening 45 minutes.

“I don’t know why he (Klopp) played Keita when in the last six months he’s played two games of 90 minutes,” Enrique said live on his Instagram story (6 April).

TBR’s View:

Keita’s stop-start Anfield career has spilled over into the season, which is equally frustrating for the manager, player and supporters.

The African box-to-box central midfielder has bags of individual ability. Unfortunately, it’s proving impossible for him to build any momentum.

Liverpool’s midfield was overrun by the experience of Madrid on Tuesday, with even the introduction of substitute Thiago Alcantara not really swinging the tide in Liverpool’s favour.