Brendan Rodgers has made five changes from the Reds side that lost to Newcastle on Saturday as he keeps one eye on Saturday’s Premier League clash with Chelsea

Steven Gerrard, Mario Balotelli and Raheem Sterling are all rested by Brendan Rodgers for Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid.

Gerrard, who started on the bench the last time the Reds visited Santiago Bernabeu in 2009 with a hamstring problem, is again denied the chance to lead his team out in the Spanish capital.

Balotelli also loses his place after an underwhelming start to the season that has seen him open his Liverpool career with two goals in 13 games, as Rodgers rings the changes with one eye on Saturday’s Premier League clash with Chelsea.

Javi Manquillo, Kolo Toure, Lucas Leiva, Emre Can, Lazar Markovic and Fabio Borini are all handed rare starts in a makeshift Reds side.

For Madrid, Gareth Bale returns to the substitutes’ bench after missing his team’s victories over Liverpool at Anfield and Barcelona in the Clasico earlier this month with a buttock muscle injury.

Ronaldo is one goal away from equalling Raul’s record of 71 Champions League goals, while Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi is close behind on 69.

Real Madrid: Casillas; Arbeloa, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Kroos, Modric, James; Isco, Benzema, Ronaldo

Subs: Keylor Navas, Pepe, Bale, Hernandez, Nacho, Medran, Lucas Torro

Liverpool: Mignolet; Manquillo, Toure, Skrtel, Moreno; Lucas, Can, Allen; Lallana, Markovic, Borini

Subs: Jones, Johnson, Gerrard, Henderson, Coutinho, Sterling, Balotelli

The Blancos boss feels that his fellow Italian has been made a scapegoat for the Premier League club’s disastrous start to the 2014-15 campaign

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti feels it is far too easy to blame Mario Balotelli for Liverpool’s problems this season, arguing that the Anfield outfit’s current issues are more “complex”.

The Reds were the story of last season’s Premier League, going so close to a first title triumph since 1990 only to suffer a dramatic collapse in the closing stages of a thrilling campaign.

Brendan Rodgers’ men nonetheless received many plaudits for their wonderful attacking play and were even talked up as potential dark horses for this season’s Champions League, but they have struggled horribly both in Europe and domestically so far this season.

The sale of Luis Suarez, who hit 31 goals in 33 games last term, has been keenly felt, as has an injury to fellow forward Daniel Sturridge, with summer signing Balotelli copping plenty of criticism for failing to fill the void, with the Italian notching just two goals since arriving from AC Milan for €20 million.

However, Ancelotti finds it unfair that his compatriot is being made a scapegoat by the British media for Liverpool’s dip in form.

“We speak about Mario so much – too much,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport on the eve of Madrid’s Champions League meeting with the Reds at the Santiago Bernabeu.

“Balotelli is a quality player who has found himself in a team that have lost Suarez and must therefore find different solutions.

“Liverpool’s problem is not only Balotelli. It’s a complex question.

“Sure, he must help the team to rediscover the good form of last season, but you cannot pin all of the blame for some results on Mario.”

Balotelli was heavily criticised by ex-Liverpool players for swapping shirts with Madrid defender Pepe as the pair walked off the pitch at half-time in the club’s 3-0 loss to Madrid at Anfield last time out.

The gesture was viewed as emblematic of the 24-year-old’s lack of focus and professionalism, but Ancelotti felt it was much ado about nothing.

“It’s such a common gesture,” the former AC Milan boss argued. “I wouldn’t send one of my players home if he swapped shirts.”

Madrid boast a 100 per cent record after three rounds of action in Champions League Group B and can seal their place in the last 16 of the Champions League win a win over Liverpool, who currently sit third in the table after back-to-back defeats, away to Basel and at home to the Blancos.

The striker travelled with the Liverpool squad to Spain but his manager insists he simply wanted all of his players together and a return to action for the player is improbable

Daniel Sturridge is not expected to feature against Real Madrid in the Champions League, despite travelling with the Liverpool squad.

The England striker has not played for the Merseyside club since the end of August, having sustained a thigh problem while on international duty, initially being sidelines for six weeks before suffering a setback.

However, having joined the squad to the Spanish capital ahead of the Group B clash, speculation intensified that Sturridge will feature at the Santiago Bernabeu, but Brendan Rodgers insists a comeback is improbable.

“It’s highly unlikely he’ll be fit,” Rodgers told reporters of Sturridge. “I’ve brought all the players out [to Madrid].

“This game and the game at the weekend [against Chelsea in the Premier League] are very important for us, and it’s a sign that we’re very much together.”

Liverpool sit level with Ludogorets and Basel on three points after three matches in Group B – Real are clear on nine after winning 3-0 at Anfield last month – and Rodgers believes a last-16 place is a realistic aim.

“We’re really looking forward to these big games,” he added. “We see them [Real] as an opportunity.

“We’re still in the hunt in the group, they’re probably the best team in the world at the moment, but we can challenge them.”