Red Star Belgrade 2 – 0 Liverpool – Match report
Liverpool were utterly poor as Red Star Belgrade triumphed 2-0 at the Rajko Mitic Stadium. The Reds will definitely rue a number of missed chances as the Serbian outfit made theirs count.
Jurgen Klopp’s men dominated the possession but barely managed to threaten their opponent. With only Roberto Firmino rested, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane struggled to create anything meaningful. Sturridge didn’t look at his best as well and wasted a couple of good chances as well.
The Reds looked much better in the early stages of the second half after the introduction of Roberto Firmino and Joe Gomez, but Klopp’s men were denied by a rigid Red Star Belgrade side. The home atmosphere was rampant as Liverpool’s fans were barely heard on the night.
The Merseyside club had more than 10 attempts in the first half, of which none of them was on target. Liverpool managed just 1 shot on target by the end of the game as their players put in what could be labelled as their worst performance so far this season.
They lacked resilience in the defence as well, with Serbian striker Milan Pavkov clinically converting both his chances. Liverpool looked weak in the air as the striker jumped highest to head in the opener. He then struck a superb long-range goal to hand the Serbian outfit a comfortable cushion.
Klopp displayed a demeaned figure and looked fired up throughout the game. The German will definitely be questioned over the starting line-up he chose for the game. Liverpool lacked energy in the middle of the park and the cutting edge required in the final third. The Reds didn’t look defensively comfortable as well.
They are definitely in for a tough test with games against Paris Saint-Germain and Napoli on the horizon. Failing to at least pick up a draw against the French champions could see the Reds knocked out of the competition and reinstated into the Europa League.
Here we take a look at the match reactions on Twitter-
What an absolute shambles! What did we really expect with Matip and Lallana? Mane and Milner extremely poor only decent player was Salah, also don’t really understand why Keita and Fabinho were left on the bench? They were bought to improve our midfield or am I wrong?
— Fletcher (@fletcher_dyer) November 6, 2018
Absolutely embarrassing performance.
Sell Lallana is January.
Sign Fekir.
Start Keita.
Midfield is dead without Shaqiri.
Not me being negative but I said from the start of the season we should focus on Prem and FA Cup we need to win trophys dont care which one.
YNWA— Joshua Allen 🇬🇧 (@ksjallen) November 6, 2018
Don’t think this is just a player related issue, clearly something wrong with the background staff, primarily Klopp. TERRIBLE subs, no need for Trent to come off at HT, should of been Lallana. Player’s not bothered either. Becoming a common pattern. No transfers in January too?
— Fraser (@iNabberTV) November 6, 2018
His subs are questionable but you can’t complain about what he’s done. We complained about the defence, he sorted it. We complained about the goalkeeper, he sorted it. Just a bad patch of form.
— RonanJM (@motordijk) November 6, 2018
Most horrible negative game iv seen. Piss poor tactics piss poor players the team should apologise and fully reimburse any fan that went to watch that shit. Don’t want to sound negative but there was absolutely no positives from that.
— ⚡️Gerard Delaney⚡️ (@Gerard36Delaney) November 6, 2018
We weren’t clinical enough tonight. Been our archilles heel this season. Needs to be addressed.
— Ziyaad (@ZIYAAD_LFC) November 6, 2018
Team selection completely wrong. Lallana shouldn’t be playing again.
Really wouldn’t be too arsed if Salah or mane left 🤷♂️
Shocking— Keita Better Than Your Midfielder (@Naby_Keita_GOAT) November 6, 2018
Embarrassment of a club. Refund all the fans who travelled there
— Jay (@SilkySadioV2) November 6, 2018
I am totally disappointed. How can red star win the reds? We played low quality football to be honest. Salah is still on vacation. Some should call him and tell him to come back to his normal self
— Chadowofficial (@chadowofficial) November 6, 2018
This guy brought in some good displays of football but yet still can’t deliver a single silverware after 3 finals incl. the UCL final, even with the current squad, many claimed it’s a ‘title winning’ squad, I doubt Klopp can win anything this season either. #kloppout @RedSox
— Muzzy Martinéz (@MuzzyMartinez) November 6, 2018