Liverpool were beaten by Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday night
Liverpool were not expected to be beaten by Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday night, but beaten they were by a home side who – unlike their visitors – came onto the pitch like a team actually ready to play a game of football from the very first whistle.
The defeat represents a major blow to Jurgen Klopp’s side, as most defeats do in fairness, who may now require maximum points from their final two group games to get through to the Champions League knockout stages.
Now while some defeats are unfortunate ones which see the losing team fail to convert chances or capitalise on their dominance, this was really not one of those games.
Yes, Liverpool had the vast majority of possession and territory in the second half of the game, but in truth they rarely threatened bar a half chance here and there.
In other words, they couldn’t really argue with the scoreline.
The level of underperformance against a team who had never won a game in the Champions League group stage before (it should be noted that they did win the European Cup back in 1991) was not on lost on manager Jurgen Klopp, who made his disdain known both during and after the game.
Current Klopp Anger Level: Maniacal Laughing. pic.twitter.com/PLcOX2bzbL
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) November 6, 2018
This was exemplified not just by his scary as hell laugh and lick of the teeth but also his curt answer to journalists who asked him after the proceedings if he could put his finger on what had gone wrong for his team in Belgrade.
His response? “I only have 10 fingers.”
🗣 "Can you put your finger on what went wrong tonight?"
🗣 "I only have 10 fingers…"
Jurgen Klopp says that Red Star Belgrade fully deserved their 2-0 win over his side in the Champions League.
Match report: https://t.co/Lvh7ihzfcK pic.twitter.com/p66OHMMzJt
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) November 6, 2018
So, yeah. Klopp is not happy at all.