After securing a comfortable win over Red Star Belgrade at Anfield last month, Liverpool were expected to secure all three points in Serbia on Tuesday night.
Instead, they produced a below-par performance and were made to pay as they suffered a 2-0 defeat, leaving them in a precarious position in terms of who qualifies from Group C and goes through to the knockout stages.
The Reds were second best for the most part and failed to match Red Star’s energy and effort, while Milan Pavkov scored two well-taken goals to secure victory for his side with the visitors lacking the same quality.
In turn, it will come as no surprise that Jurgen Klopp was far from impressed with what he saw from his players, as he picked out a costly miss from Daniel Sturridge when the game was still goalless, while also raising a bigger concern by suggesting that his side ‘lost their mojo’.
Klopp asked if he can put his finger on what went wrong:
“I only have 10 fingers….”— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) November 6, 2018
Klopp: “We made it too easy for them. They deserved it with the passion they showed.”
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) November 6, 2018
Klopp: “We lost our mojo in the game, not in general. We have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) November 6, 2018
Meanwhile, as they continue to toil away from home in the Champions League, that was their third successive defeat on the road in Europe which was the first time that they’ve suffered such a slump in the competition.
With a trip to face Paris Saint-Germain next up on the schedule, Liverpool will have to produce a much-improved performance if they wish to avoid failing to make it out of the group.
On top of that, if they don’t get a positive result in the French capital, it will surely set up an anxious clash with Napoli at Anfield in the final game to determine who goes through to the next stage.
Liverpool have lost 3 successive away #UCL matches for the 1st time
L2-4 v Roma
L0-1 v Napoli
L0-2 v Red Star Belgrade pic.twitter.com/501J37cle8— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) November 6, 2018