Steven Gerrard declares manager will 'probably lose job' after tough season

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard was on punditry duty as Bayern Munich knocked Real Madrid out of the Champions League, with Luis Diaz netting a late goal at the Allianz Arena

Steven Gerrard and Steve McManaman after Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid(Image: TNT Sports)

Steven Gerrard believes his former Liverpool teammate Alvaro Arbeloa will lose his job as manager of Real Madrid after Los Blancos lost to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Luis Diaz scored the decisive goal to put an end to Real Madrid's chances of progressing, but only after Eduardo Camavinga had been sent off. The 23-year-old French midfielder was shown a second yellow card for delaying the restart, which proved costly for his side at a vital period in the game.

"Over the course of the two legs, you would have to say Bayern Munich were better and deserved to go through," Gerrard said on TNT Sports.

"It was a moment of madness and immaturity [from Camavinga] — silliness. As the boys said in the studio, the first yellow card, sometimes as a midfielder, you have to do that.

"If you get a second yellow card for something that is going to help the team and you're putting your body on the line, it is understandable. But a moment of madness — he has cost his team at a really key moment in the game.

"They also had another big chance when Kylian Mbappe put it across the six-yard box. I don't know whether it was just behind Vinicius Jr., but that was another big moment where they could have got another goal.

Gerrard has offered his opinion(Image: (Photo by Franco Arland/Getty Images))

"I feel sorry for Arbeloa, and I feel sorry for a lot of the Real Madrid players. To a man, they were so much better than last week, and they were excellent all over the pitch — they defended the sides better.

"You've got to feel sorry for them, and he probably will lose his job, Arbeloa. But I don't think he deserves that on the evidence of tonight."

Earlier this season, Arbeloa replaced another of Gerrard's old teammates, Xabi Alonso, who was fired at the turn of the year.

He is a highly regarded coach who has worked with Real Madrid's youth teams in the last few years, though there was no real confirmation of whether he was going to be the long-term successor.

Alonso remains out of work and has been put forward in many quarters as an obvious option should Arne Slot leave Liverpool.

Ahead of the double-header with PSG and an important game with Fulham that Liverpool won, Gerrard said it was a big period coming up for Slot at Anfield.

"Use the crowd and try and galvanize something from the season because, if the week goes the other way, and they don't do that and they don't try and galvanize something from the season, unfortunately, the pressure, the heat, the intensity is going to come even more on the players, and certainly on Arne Slot as well," Gerrard said. "Which, from a fan point of view, I don't want to see."

Liverpool.com says: For Real Madrid, the Champions League is everything. Whoever takes over as coach, though, will have a difficult job. As Alonso found out, trying to get the players to embrace a style of play is easier said than done.