Jürgen Klopp speaks!
Match report: Red Star 2-0 Liverpool
Andy Hunter was the Guardian’s man in Belgrade and here’s how he saw the action unfold as Liverpool suffered a shock defeat.
Jurgen Klopp speaks: “You could see that a few things were not going too well,” he tells BT Sport. “We had a chance and they defended on the line after two headers from us. They scored a goal and then completely out of the blue they scored a second and the atmosphere completely changed.
“The second half was really dominant but we didn’t score. Sadio and Mo’s chance was saved. If we scored with one of them the game would maybe have completely changed. That’s not what we wanted and we’ll throw everything at the next two games, but I have no big speech to give you just 10 minutes after the game. The boys are very disappointed, I’m disappointed and we have to do better. We have to do better.”
James Milner speaks: “I think all over the field,” he says when asked by BT Sport’s Paul Dempsey where the problem areas were for Liverpool in the first half. We didn’t start well but when you don’t start in the Champions League you get punished. I thought we did better in the second half and we had a few chances, we were patient and we kept plugging away but ultimately we weren’t good enough.”
He goes on to say that he’s confident Liverpool can get whatever’s required against Napoli and PSG and there’ll be no panic because their destiny is in their own hands.
Elsewhere in Europe: Tottenham Hotspur really need a win against PSV Eindhoven at Wembley tonight and are already a goal down inside three minutes. You can follow the action in that one with Ben Fisher.
A lap of honour! The Red Star squad are currently taking the plaudits the running track surrounding the pitch at the Belgrade Marakana, where none of the home fans are showing any inclination to leave. It could be a long, long night for the travelling two thousand, who will presumably be held back for half an hour after their hosts go home.
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Post-match musings: It was a very flat and toothless performance from Liverpool, who looked very out of sorts. Easily avoidable defensive errors led to both goals, while the second in particular featured errors from no fewer than five different men in purple shirts. While a draw didn’t look beyond them until the last 10 minutes or so, Red Star’s rearguard was well-organised, disciplined and solid, even if the hosts did ride their luck a little at times.
Full time: Red Star 2-0 Liverpool
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeep! It’s all over. Having shipped 10 goals in their previous two Champions League outings, Red Star have beaten Liverpool courtesy of two first-half strikes from Milan Pavkov. With games against PSG and Napoli to come, they’ve given themselves plenty of work to do.
90+5 min: More time-wasting from Red Star, as Rodic takes an eternity over a throw-in.
90+3 min: The ball drops for Salah in a great position after a poor defensive header. He shoots straight at Milan Borjan, who gets down to save and then punches the air in triumph. This game means an awful lot to these Red Star players and they’ve shown as much tonight.
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90+1 min: Now Savic goes down with cramp on the edge of his own penalty area shortly after Van Dijk had steered a header straight at Borjan in the Red Star goal. There’ll be another four or so minutes of added time.
89 min: Slavoljub Srnic kicks the ball high into the stand after it goes out for a Liverpool throw-in. Unimpressed, Sadio Mane has a go at him for time-wasting and gets a cheeky wink by way of return. Joe Gomez takes another long throw, which Red Star clear.
87 min: Gini Wijnaldum tries a shot from distance, but Milan Rodic throws himself in front of the ball to block. The stands are rocking in the Belgrade Marakana – the Red Star fans have contrived to make most Premier League crowds seem like Carthusian monks precluded from talking by a vow of silence.
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85 min: Another chance for Liverpool as Virgil van Dijk leaps to head a Firmino ball sent in from the right towards goal. Marko Grobeljic does well to contest the header and prevent him from getting his header down and under the bar.
82 min: Joe Gomez Delaps a long throw towards the far post. It seems to be on a plate for Joel Matip, who doesn’t quite connect with his header when scoring looked a formality. His glancing downward header drops to Salah, who is unable to convert from the tightest of angles. Milan Borjan gets down and clutches the ball to his chest.
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81 min: Liverpool corner. James Milner sends it to the near post, where it’s clear. Liverpool substitution from a couple of minutes ago: Divock Origi on for Adam Lallana, who hasn’t had one of his better games.
78 min: An Andy Robertson cross pinballs around the edge of the Red Star six-yard box and breaks to Salah, who isn’t able to get off a shot. Red Star goalkeeper Borjan scrambles to get the ball in his arms on the ground, but promptly loses it again, but his defenders eventually scramble it away.
75 min: Mane runs at the backpedalling Red Star defence before pinging the ball a few yards forward and wide to Andy Robertson, whose cross is blocked. Red Star immediately gallop upfield on the counter and a superb pass from Pavkov in midfield finds Srnic. He stretches to try and pick out Ben Nabouhane, but the pass is a bit wayward.
73 min: Liverpool continue to pile on the pressure but Red Star are holding out reasonably comfortably. The home side make another substitution, with Nenad Kristicic making way for his fellow defensive midfielder Branko Jovicic.
71 min: Salah goes close twice in quick succession. He follows off the upright after the ball breaks to him from a corner. Moments previously he’d won the corner with a swerving left-footed drive from 25 yards that Borjan had to dive to save.
70 min: Red Star continue to keep Liverpool at arm’s length as they try to find the killer pass that might unlock the portcullis.
69 min: Liverpool are pinging the ball to and fro around the fringe of the final third, but are having little or no look advancing on goal. Red Star have been very impressive defensively and are now time-wasting at every opportunity for obvious reasons.
67 min: The camera cuts to the Liverpool fans in the away section and they look as pensive as you’d expect.
65 min: James Milner loses possession in midfield again, but his team-mates win it back before Red Star can mount anything threatening in the way of an attack. Liverpool were praised earlier this season for repeatedly winning games despite not being at their best. They are far from their best tonight and are being severely punished for their inadequacies.
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64 min: Red Star substitution: Marko Marin makes way for the more defensively minded midfielder Goran Causic.
62 min: That pause for treatment to Stojkovic seems to have taken a bit of the impetus out of Liverpool’s second-half efforts. They win a corner, which Mo Salah takes. His delivery is hideously bad and he puts the ball straight into the side netting.
60 min: There was a suggestion Stojkovic might be able to continue, but he obviously can’t. He’s replaced by Mark Gobeljic, who played left-back in the game at Anfield. He takes up that position here as well, as Red Star manager Vladan Milojevic switches things around.
59 min: There’s a break in play as Filip Stojkovic is stretchered off after suffering what looked a nasty groin injury. The right-back hoists himself onto the stretcher trolley after appearing to do the splits after tripping off the ball.
56 min: A Robertson cross takes a deflection, loops up in the air and drops down on the Red Star cross-bar. It bounces back into play, but unkindly for the lurking Roberto Firmino. Red Star hack clear.
55 min: Liverpool go forward again. They’ve had one shot on target thus far, Sane’s a couple of minutes ago, if that counts.
52 min: Urgent stuff from Liverpool, who are pinning Red Star back. Andy Robertson’s attempted dink into the penalty area is blocked by Milos Degenek, who played for Australia during the World Cup.
51 min: Liverpool press forward again. James Milner curls a cross from the right towards the far post, where Savic heads it clears.
49 min: Sadio Mane misses a glorious chance to pull one back for Liverpool, but his shot is blocked. A Salah cross drops kindly for him in the Red Star penalty area, but his effort from four or five five yards is blocked by Red Star skipper Vujadin Savic. Moments later, Savic is on hand again to block a cross from Adam Lallana.
48 min: Red Star start on the front foot, taking advantage from uncertainty in the Liverpool defensive ranks to get a couple of half-chances away. Virgil van Dijk is an unquestionably a fine defender but he’s not having one of his better games tonight. He was partly at fault for both Red Star goals and he’s already made a little rick in the early stages of this second half. His inability to control a potentially kamikaze pass from Alisson just now led to chaos in the penalty area. Marko Marin’s shot hits James Milner’s hand from close range, but no penalty is given.
Second half: Red Star 2-0 Liverpool
46 min: Having presumably spent a good portion of the interval making the long, long walk through the Marakana’s tunnel to the dressing-rooms and back, you have to wonder if the players even had time for a rest. Red Star’s players look content enough - they’re laughing and smiling as they re-emerge.
Liverpool substitutions: Jurgen Klopp has decided to bring on Joe Gomez and Roberto Firmino, with Daniel Sturridge and Trent Alexander-Arnold making way.
A geography lesson: More on the Comoros Island, home of Red Star forward Ben Nabouhane. “They are an independent republic in the Indian Ocean, about half way between Madagascar and the mainland of Africa,” writes Owen Jones. “They are most probably most famous for being the country that has experienced the most coups d’etat of any other, with more than 20 since independence in 1975. Mayotte is an island within the Comoros archipelago, but is a French overseas territory, and therefore not part of the Comoros. I spent several months in the Comoros working for an environmental NGO a few years ago, and it is without a doubt the friendliest place I have ever been.”
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Half-time: Red Star 2-0 Liverpool
Liverpool are in big trouble: Jurgen Klopp looks far from pleased as his players troop off for the break looking very sorry for themselves indeed. They’ve shipped two goals to a Red Star side that started brightly, but were beginning to struggle until Milan Pavkov scored the first of his two goals. I can see a way back for Liverpool, but they’ve left themselves a mountain to climb.
45+1 min: Liverpool go on the attack as the Red Star fans plead with the referee to blow up for half-time. The consequences of losing this game could be disastrous for Liverpool, who have to face PSG and Napoli in their final two matches.
43 min: On BT Sport, Jim Beglin is on co-comms and is full of praise for Red Star’s attack-minded approach against Liverpool. “They’ve shown much more courage than we saw two weeks ago when Liverpool skated to a 4-0 win and that guy [Milan Pavkov] has backed it up with two goals.”
42 min: Sadio Mane beats Stojkovic for toe down the inside left again, but the cross that follows is poor. Red Star clear their lines.
40 min: Adam Lallana is penalised for offside as he tries to run in behind the Red Star right back to latch on to a pass from Mo Salah.
38 min: Marin gets looked after and we get another look at Pavkov’s second goal. Gini Wijnaldum could have done better and so could Alisson, who seemed very slow to react. Pavkov’s celebration was a sight to behold; with a crazed look in his eyes he repeatedly thumped the Red Star badge on his shirt while gesturing to the crowd.
37 min: Adam Lallana gets booked for a scything challenge on Marko Marin, who needs to receive medical assistance. That was a wild, wild tackle from Lallana.
35 min: Not for the first time, Daniel Sturridge shoots when perhaps he should have passed to a team-mate in a better position. His diagonal effort sails over the bar, while Trent Alexander-Arnold seethes as he runs back into position to await the goal kick.
33 min: A cross from the left and Lallana’s diving header from distance looks to be creeping inside the left upright. It’s unwittingly diverted off course when it hits Filip Stojkovic.
31 min: Jurgen Klopp really won’t like that one. James Milner gifted possession to Red Star in midfield and Pavkov bolts towards the Liverpool penalty area with Gini Wijnaldum in hot pursuit. He unwilling or unable to put a tackle in on the striker, who tees up his shot before unleashing his rising drive towards the corner. I think Alisson probably good have done a bit better, but it was a fine strike.
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GOAL! Red Star 2-0 Liverpool (Pavkov 29)
Now it’s two. Milan Pavkov takes advantage of more atrocious defending to fire a shot into the top left-hand corner from 25 yards and bag his second. That’s a terrific goal!
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28 min: Mo Salah darts past Milos Degenek into the Red Star penalty area and sends a low cross fizzing to the feet of Adam Lallana in a good position. He’s unable to control the cross and Red Star clear.
27 min: Another corner for Red Star, which Marin over-hits.
25 min: Red Star go ahead just as Liverpool were starting to dominate and find their rhythm. They’ve been trying to exploit right-back Filip Stojkovic’s lack of pace on that side of the pitch and Sadio Mane and Andy Robertson have been giving him a torrid time of it when Liverpool are on the front foot.
24 min: Jurgen Klopp won’t like that. Red Star won a corner after Alisson was forced to make a decent save from a low Ben Nabouhane drive. Marko Marin sent the ball arcing into the Liverpool penalty area, where Milan Pavkov rose unmarked to score with a bullet header from close range.
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GOAL! Red Star 1-0 Liverpool (Pavkov 22)
Red Star lead. The home side go ahead from a corner and the Marakana erupts.
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20 min: Mane threads a pass through the penalty area for Sturridge, who turns and shoots under pressure when Lallana was screaming for a pass to the edge of the area. Sturridge’s optimistic effort is blocked and goes out for a corner. That comes to naught when James Milner fouls a Red Star player once the ball comes into the area.
17 min: Daniel Sturridge misses an absolute sitter! Completely unmarked at the back post, standing on the edge of the six-yard box, he fires over the bar. Sadio Mane had crossed from the left, Andy Robertson failed to connect and the fell could not have broken more kindly for Sturridge. How on earth did he miss?
16 min: Another corner for Red Star, which Marin sends into the mixer again. The ball’s headed and drops kindly for Savic, who spins and shoots high over the bar from near the penalty spot. Red Star can be very pleased with the way they’ve started this game.
15 min: In the Liverpool penalty area, Filip Stojkovic attempts to head a neat pass into the path of Ben Nabouhane, but it’s intercepted.
14 min: Some neat build-up play from Red Star ends in them winning a corner, after a neat little through-ball from Marin is deflected wide. Marin takes the ensuing corner from the left, but Virgil van Dijk heads clear.
13 min: Mo Salah arrows a cross into the Red Star penalty from the left flank. It’s a might too high for Sturridge, who succeeds only in heading it up in the air and ultimately behind him. Running in on the follow-up, Trent Alexander-Arnold volleys high over the bar from just inside the area.
11 min: Savic mops up at the back for Red Star as Liverpool attack down the left flank with Adam Lallana on the ball.
10 min: Slavoljub Srnic picks up a pass from Ben Nabouhane on the left flank, cuts inside and unleashes a really feeble shot that doesn’t trouble Alisson at his near post.
8 min: Sadio Mane gets in behind the Red Star defence down the inside left to pick up a long pass from Andy Robertson. He pulles the ball back to James Milner on the edge of the penalty area, but his wild first-time shot under pressure sails high into the Belgrade night sky.
7min: Scrappy stuff, as Ben Nabouane is fouled and Red Star win a free-kick in midfield.
5 min: Red Star are doing well with the partisan crowd behind them early doors. Marko Marin gets needlessly booked for dissent after repeatedly complaining about a decision that’s gone against him. Moments later, Daniel Sturridge has an offside flag raised against him.
3 min: Red Star win a corner after an incredibly long throw by Filip Stojkovic catches Virgil van Dijk by surprise. He seriously Delapped that into the penalty area, where it caught out the Dutchman. Nothing comes of the inswinger.
Red Star v Liverpool is go ...
1 min: The game kicks off with Red Star’s players wearing red and white striped shirts, white shorts and white socks. Liverpool are in the same purple/African violet away kit their players wore against Arsenal again.
Remarkable scenes at a packed Marakana: There are 41,000 fans packed into the big concrete bowl with the running track around the pitch and they’re creating quite some din. Around 2,000 Liverpool fans have made the trip. Red Star skipper Vujadin Savic wins the toss and play is about to begin.
What a tunnel! It takes over a minute for the players to walk from the dressing-rooms to the pitch through a narrow red and white tunnel with brick walls. BT Sport pundit Steve McManaman reckons it’s “had a lick of paint, it’s normally covered in graffiti and it’s really intimidating”.
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Not long now: Red Star’s Marakana Stadium seems lively these evening, with BT Sport pundit Rafael Honigstein reporting that the crowds have been singing assorted chants not particularly suitable for a family audience. It’s quite the cauldron tonight and as the accompanying photo shows, the local constabulary have been getting involved.
A few changes for Liverpool: Daniel Sturridge replaces Roberto Firmino, while Joel Matip comes in for Joe Gomez in defence. Adam Lallana replaces Fabinho in midfield. Midfielder Naby Keita, back after a hamstring injury, is among the substitutes.
Scanning the Red Star line-up I can confirm they’re fielding nine Serbians, a German in Marko Marin and a fella named El Fardou Ben Nabouhane (aka Ben), who hails from Comoros (aka the Union of the Comoros), which is a country I have literally never heard of before. Anyone been there, readers? Here’s some YouTube footage of a tourist trail in Ben’s home town of Mayotte.
Red Star v Liverpool line-ups
Red Star Belgrade: Borjan, Stojkovic, Savic, Degenek, Rodic, Krsticic, Jovancic, Srnic, Marin, Ben, Pavkov.
Subs: Popovic, Jovicic, Babic, Stojiljkovic, Causic, Simic, Gobeljic.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk,
Robertson, Milner, Wijnaldum, Lallana, Salah, Sturridge, Mane.
Subs: Mignolet, Fabinho, Keita, Firmino, Gomez, Moreno, Origi.
Referee: Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
Early team news ...
Xherdan Shaqiri’s absence has already been well-documented, while Jordan Henderson and Nathaniel Clyne were also left at home nursing niggles. Naby Keita is back in Liverpool’s squad after recovering from a hamstring injury, while Dejan Lovren has also recovered from discomfort that ruled him out of the weekend game against Arsenal.
Having seen his team get thumped 4-0 at the corresponding fixture at Anfield two weeks ago, Vladan Milojevic will recall central defender Vujadin Savic and midfielder Marko Marin, who spent four years not really being at Chelsea, for whom he played just six time between loans spells in Spain, Italy, Belgium and Turkey.
Red Star boss Vladan Milojevic speaks ...
On tonight’s opposition: “We’re facing a strong team, but we have prepared well and are ready to give our best. You have to be focused throughout when you play such quality sides. If you relax just for a minute you’ll get punished.”
On what it means to be hosting Liverpool: “For the club, Belgrade, Serbia and the whole region tomorrow is an important occasion, and we are looking forward to a spectacle. We will try to make the best of the game.”
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp speaks ...
On the possibility of selecting Naby Keita in midfield for tonight’s game: “I have to make a decision tomorrow. It’s very good to have him back for the upcoming weeks.”
On questions surrounding the form of Roberto Firmino: “I am not concerned. Things like this happen. In the end everything will be fine. We know about these situations. Sometimes it is clicking easier than in other moments, that’s all. There are no concerns.”
On tonight’s opposition: “It’s the combination of atmosphere and the football they play. We were really good at Anfield; if we had been less strong they would have been in the game. We are from Liverpool so we know how important atmosphere can be.”We have to be very strong tomorrow. We have to be ready for a big game and we will be ready.”
Liverpool leave Xherdan Shaqiri at home: Jurgen Klopp has adopted what he described as the “common sense” approach of not selecting the Switzerland international, who upset Serbs by celebrating his late winner against them at the World Cup by forming a double-headed eagle – as represented on the flag of Albania, who fought against Serbia in the Kosovo war - with his hands. The gesture incensed Serbian officials and fans and Shaqiri was subsequently fined for his actions by Fifa. He had also sported a Kosovo flag on the boots he wore for the match to mark his Kosovar-Albanian heritage.
“The only thing I can say about it was that it was common sense,” said Klopp, upon being quizzed about his decision to omit Shaqiri from his squad. “It was common sense to make the decision and not to force anything. We come here wanting to play football. We have to concentrate on football. We have to focus on football. That’s what we want to do and that is why I made that decision.”
Group C: Red Star Belgrade v Liverpool
Group leaders Liverpool travel to Belgrade in the southeast of Serbia to take on their fellow former European champions, Red Star. There’s been a lot of water under the Red Star bridge since they beat Marseille in the most boring football final ever played 27 years ago (you can read up on some of it here) and the Serbian side have taken their seat at European football’s top table this season for the first time since 1992, when political and military upheaval in the former Yugoslavia meant they had to play their “home” games elsewhere.
They don’t pull much of a crowd these days, Red Star and I was quite shocked to note during the course of my research for the article above, that their average gate for league matches at the time was around five to six thousand people. I have a good feeling there’ll be considerably more in the 55,538-capacity Rajko Mitić Stadium (aka Marakana) tonight. Kick-off is at the slightly discombobulating time of 5.55pm (GMT), but stay tuned for team news and plenty of build-up in the meantime.
