Jordan Henderson admits it was tough to prepare for England's Nations League semi-final against Holland after lifting the Champions League trophy five days earlier.
Defensive errors were the main reason behind a 3-1 extra-time defeat to the Dutch in Guimaraes as Gareth Southgate's side lost a semi-final for the second successive summer.
Henderson told UEFA.com: 'It was tough. It was a quick turnaround after the weekend - physically, mentally, emotionally I was drained after the game and it took a few days to get ready for this game.
'But also at the same time the lads have been training a good few weeks to build up to this game as well and they deserved to play. We have a great squad as well and you've got to use that.'
'It was two poor goals really from our side,' added the Liverpool skipper.
'Obviously we were unlucky for the offside decision, we thought that was a great time to score and we were on top at that moment.
'The last 10-15 minutes I felt we were in control and could win the game and then extra-time we conceded two poor goals from our point of view.
'It's difficult to lose but you need to learn from the experience as best as you can and keep going. I'm sure we can keep improving and hopefully there are still many big games to come from this team.
'We just have to keep going, keep the experiences we've had together, good and bad, and keep working towards the goal.'
England face Switzerland in the Nations League third-place play-off on Sunday afternoon and it remains to be seen whether Southgate will make wholesale changes to the team, including possible starts for Henderson or anyone else who featured in Madrid last weekend.
Taza
59
Please balance me here, I'm lost a bit. Why was he even mentioning the CL final? Holland had G Wijnaldum, V v Dijk, de Ligt, de Jong, Blind who were either in the semi finals and/or finals of the CL, they all started and finished the game vs England. Then van de Beek came on as substitute. Unlike England had only Henderson, Kane and Alli all coming as subs and anyway they are less than players the Netherlands used who played in the CL 5 days earlier. Henderson must just shut up and admit it's too early for it to come home.
VeenLSD
46
There was only one Liverpool player to play for England in this match (Henderson) and he only played from the 77th min. Van Dijk and Gini, both in the starting XI from the Netherlands. Not only England but the Netherlands as well still had a lot of joy for Liverpool and two of their Dutch players to win the CL. Therefore your excuse is invalid Hendo!