After the game, on the 5th of the next day, the entire Liverpool team went out again to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, to challenge their opponent in the fourth round of the Champions League Group C, Red Star Belgrade, away.
On Mo Yang's private plane, Klopp was sitting on a soft sofa. Crayon Shin-chan was playing on the LCD TV in front of him, but he didn't even look at it. He looked down at the laptop screen on his lap.
3. Paris Saint-Germain, 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss, goal difference 4, 4 points
4. Red Star Belgrade, 1 draw and 2 losses, goal difference -10 and 1 point
After this round of the league, there are only two rounds left in the group stage. Therefore, according to the current points form, although Liverpool now has the initiative to advance, it is still very dangerous. The luxury oil tankers of Naples and Paris can come from behind and overtake them at any time.
Kicked into the cliff.
Regarding Red Star Belgrade, Klopp did not dare to say that this team will definitely be eliminated.
Although this team is a mid-range team in Europe, the strength of this team at home can be seen from their home draw with Naples in the first round.
There was also the first round match between Liverpool and Red Star. Although they won 5-0, Red Star Belgrade also left a deep impression on Klopp. The mad dog-style full-court press made him a little afraid.
There are now only two rounds left in the group stage. The current domestic league situation of Red Star Belgrade is very good, and they are far ahead.
Therefore, Klopp feels that Red Star Belgrade will never give up on the Champions League and will definitely try its best to win the next three games, two home games and one away game.
Klopp can almost foresee that they will be attacked by Red Star Belgrade at the Red Star Stadium.
Two days later, on November 7, Klopp's intuition came true.
Because they had just had a high-intensity and high-consumption offensive battle with Arsenal, in order to prevent the players' physical fitness from turning red again, Klopp finally chose to perform a certain degree of rotation in this game.
Gomez, Firmino, Henderson, Mo Yang and Mane were put on the bench by Klopp.
Forward, Klopp retains Salah to partner Yinbu and Jota
In the midfield, he used Wijnaldum as the defensive midfielder, with Lallana and Milner on the left and right.
As for the defense, Klopp was afraid of problems in the defense, so he let Van Dijk continue to start, partnering Matip.
Alisson was also replaced by Buffon. He also needed a rest. At the same time, Liverpool's second goalkeeper Buffon also needed a certain number of game opportunities.
As a result, after the game started, the situation was far beyond Klopp's expectations.
For Red Star Belgrade, although former Juventus striker Boacchie is injured, their main winger Marin, who was absent from the first round, returned to the starting lineup in this game.
At the beginning of the game, Red Star Belgrade, playing at home, burst out with a rainbow of momentum.
On Liverpool's side, many main players are missing, and coupled with Klopp's tactical strategy in this game, it seems to be relatively slow.
As the game time went by, although the slow-moving Liverpool had a high ball possession rate, in the eyes of Mo Yang on the bench, it was actually ineffective possession of the ball.
A lot of possessions don't mean much.
Mo Yang knew that Klopp asked Lallana, who was very creative, to start in his place to support the RYS combination of strikers Jota, Yin Bu, and Salah.
But during the more than ten minutes of the game, Lallana was unqualified in Mo Yang's eyes.
The 30-year-old big brother of the team did not perform as Klopp expected on the court.
Facing the frequent double defense of Red Star Belgrade's defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder and full-back, Lallana, who is slightly thin and has relatively average speed, is almost unable to parry. He can't deliver threatening balls, and he frequently loses them.
The ball threatens the home's rear position.
Wijnaldum in the defensive midfield position also shoulders a lot of defensive work. As a result, Liverpool can only rely on Milner on the right to take on the responsibility of linking offense and defense.
And Salah, Yinbu, and Jota are naturally unable to get high-quality ball delivery from the three midfielders behind them because of the heavy load in the midfield.
After analyzing this passive situation, Mo Yang turned his attention to Arnold and Robertson.
But soon Mo Yang was disappointed again.
Because of Red Star Belgrade's two-wing tactics, Arnold and Robertson did not play easily. They spent most of their energy on defense and rarely had the opportunity to go up to support the striker.
In the 30th minute of the game, Red Star Belgrade won the ball through the frontcourt and won a corner kick on the right.
Red Star midfielder Marin drove the ball directly to the center of the penalty area.
The speed and placement of Marin's pass were very precise, making it impossible for Buffon to get out in front of the goal.
But what is frustrating is that Liverpool's defense still made major mistakes.
When Red Star's 193cm high center Pavkov stepped in from the penalty spot, no one followed him, allowing him to take off and rush between Van Dijk and Wijnaldum without any interference, and hammered the ball.
Goal goal.
Seeing this scene, Klopp and Mo Yang's faces instantly became livid with anger, and they also felt helpless.
However, just three minutes later, Liverpool suffered another major blow.
In the 35th minute of the game, on the left side of the Liverpool midfielder, Lallana received a direct pass from Robertson in front of the center line.
As soon as he stopped the ball, he was immediately double-guarded by Red Star Belgrade right midfielder Krsticic and attacking midfielder Ben.
Lallana also learned his lesson. After running to the wing to get the ball, he half-turned and immediately passed the ball back to Wijnaldum who was leaning on the arc of the center circle.
But at the moment of passing the ball, he knocked Krsticic behind him, causing the ball's path to deviate.
Wijnaldum was badly cheated, and the ball was eventually picked up by Red Star midfielder Srnyk who rushed out of the center circle on his right.
Slnyk did not stop the ball. When he came to the ball, he quickly passed forward.
Wijnaldum did not intercept and the ball fell to the feet of Red Star center Pavkov.
After Pavkov got the ball, he turned around slowly and faced Matip and Van Dijk who were approaching quickly from both sides.
As a center, speed is not Pavkov's weapon. His real weapon is his super body and ability to protect the ball.
Although Wijnaldum easily chased behind Pavkov, he was blocked from behind and could not get around.
After Pavkov got the ball, he first took it laterally to the middle, then turned around and reached the area thirty meters in front of the top of the arc.
Before the penalty kick, Matip and Van Dijk were fully prepared, but they never expected that Pavkov would be so decisive and kick out boldly.
Immediately, a powerful and heavy long-range shot appeared. The ball flew between Matip and Van Dijk, like a falling meteor, and fell towards the upper left corner of the goal.
On the goal line, Buffon made a sideways dive, but the angle Pavkov wanted to kick the ball was too tricky. He was heading towards a blind corner, so Buffon could only watch as the ball went in from the lower edge of the crossbar.
“Gooooooaaaaal!
!
!
!
!
"
At the moment of the goal, tens of thousands of fans at the Red Star Stadium shouted in unison to vent the huge pain that Liverpool caused them in the first round.
The cheers that filled the sky seemed particularly exciting and exhilarating.
