The Croatian believes the Reds lost heart after Cristiano Ronaldo’s opener at Anfield and says it would be a huge boost if the Blancos can defeat Barcelona at the weekend

Luka Modric has hinted that Liverpool did not face the full force of Real Madrid’s might in Wednesday’s Champions League win because they had one eye on Saturday’s Clasico.

Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring before Karim Benzema bagged a double to ease the Blancos into a three-goal lead by the break.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men appeared to drop down a gear in the second half, rather than go for the jugular, and Modric admitted that the European champions started thinking about this weekend’s crunch clash with Liga leaders Barcelona.

“In the last month, or month and a half, we have looked in great shape,” the Croatian midfielder told reporters at Anfield. “And we showed our top form in this iconic stadium.

“The first goal is broke them. They lost enthusiasm. Then in the second half we were saving a little bit of energy for Saturday.”

Modric, who is spending his third season at the Santiago Bernabeu, believes beating Barca on Saturday would be a massive morale boost for Madrid.

“The atmosphere in the team is great and it’s one of the reasons why we’re playing so well,” the former Tottenham star explained.

“I am ready for the Clasico, whatever the outcome is. Hopefully, we will win because it would mean a lot for our confidence.”

Real Madrid are in the midst of an impressive eight-game win streak – but Barca have also been in top form, not conceding a single goal in La Liga and scoring 22 in the process.