In the last round of Champions League, Liverpool beat the Red Stars by 4-0 at home. The team victory gave Klopp a lot of confidence, so in the second round game against the Red Star, Klopp rotated some players. This made the team inferior in the first half and scored two goals by their opponent. In the second half, Klopp reacted and replaced main force players. However, Liverpool didn’t turn around the game because of the tough defense from their opponent, and finally got the 0-2 loss in the away game. Although Liverpool is still ranked second in the group with 6 points, the situation for advancing to next stage is very critical.
This round of the Champions League, Liverpool played an away game against the Red Star and lost it by 0-2. In the their first encounter, Liverpool got a 4-0 home victory over the opponents. This victory made Klopp feel quite confident, so in this game he rotated the team. Defender Gomez, midfielder Fabiano and center forward Fermino did not show up in the starting XI. This rotation made the team play quite comfortably and caused problems in both offense and defense.
On the defense side, the opponent scored a header and a long-range shot. When the header was scored, Marti’s marking was not so good. The long-range goal shows the team’s midfield defense was a little bit weak. If Gomez and Fabiano were on the pitch, these two goals are not likely to happen. On the offense side, Sturridge got an opportunity to score, but he wasted it. If Fermino were there, the Reds might have scored a goal.
Klopp has paid for his overconfidence. After halftime, Klopp replaced Gomez and Fermino to play, and the team’s offense improved significantly, but Liverpool did not score a goal. It is too difficult to score a goal under the tight defense of the opponent.
After 4 group games, Liverpool has earned 6 points. Naples has the same points and beat Liverpool before. Therefore, now, Naples ranks the first while Liverpool ranks the second. If only looking at the points and standings, Liverpool seems to have a relatively good situation to advance, but if taking a closer look, you will see the situation of Liverpool is pretty hard.
In the following games, both Naples and PSG will play against Red Star. The possibility of winning for both teams are very high and they will get 3 points. In the contrast, Liverpool will play against the two strong teams, PSG and Naples, in the next two games. If the Reds lose, they will probably out in the group stage.