Red Star Belgrade 2-0 Liverpool: 5 talking points

Liverpool were drowned out in Red Star Belgrade’s cauldron of noise as Jurgen Klopp’s side slipped to a dreadful Champions League defeat.

Milan Pavkov’s first half brace proved enough for a side who lost 4-0 at Anfield two weeks ago , as an insipid Reds struggled to create chances on the way to losing for the second successive time on the road in Europe this season.

Pavkov rose highest from a corner for his first and lashed in past Alisson from distance for his second, with Klopp’s side unable to deal with the approach of the boisterous home side.

Daniel Sturridge, in for the rested Roberto Firmino, missed a glorious chance to give the visitors the lead in the first period, with Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Joel Matip going close in a second half in which Klopp’s side flattered to deceive.

Here are the night’s talking points.

1. Reds wilt in the noise, having done the hard part

The narrative is always that you’re supposed to quieten the crowd in the first 20 minutes in games like this and then build from there. But Liverpool only dug downwards.

Klopp’s men seemed to have done the hard work in the manner in which they started the game, keeping it simple at the back and opting to look to spring into attacks via long balls.

They’d even begun to start creating chances, with Sturridge wasting the best of those, but then everything caved in.

2. Squad goals.. or the lack of them

We all know that there are squad players, but there are also squad games for those squad players to play in.

And while this could easily come across as trying to be wise after the event, an away game in a hostile Belgrade environment might not be one of those when it is compared to… say a home game against the side bottom of the Premier League on Sunday.

Because that’s when the Reds host a currently hapless Fulham in a fixture that might have been better suited to the rusty talents of Adam Lallana and Sturridge.

At least judging by what we saw here during a first half Sturridge didn’t resume from.

3. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s rough patch

You’ve got to take the rough with the smooth when it comes to young players, and Trent Alexander-Arnold is certainly going through the former at the moment.

Having spent the summer on the training pitches of Russia, the recently turned 20-year-old has been searching for rhythm for pretty much all of this campaign, but his displays in the last couple of games have shown an alarming lack of that.

He was poor at Arsenal at the weekend and probably at fault for the Gunners’ goal, and the fact he was taken off at half-time here says everything.

He needs a rest.

4. Mo Salah can’t do much more without help

Of course the pictures staring back at you from this game will now mostly feature a downcast Mo Salah, but it is difficult to fathom just what else the Egyptian could have done here given what was going on around him.

There was an alarming lack of creativity to help a player who was always getting swarmed around whenever he was near the goal, and this game surely has to serve as a reminder that others around Salah can’t get away with underperformance for much longer.

5. Liverpool’s stark dose of reality

Given everything that happened in Kiev at the end of last season, Liverpool deserve credit for the way they began this campaign without suffering a Ukrainian hangover.

Other Reds teams have caved in after less, leading to yet another turnover of players and sometimes even the manager, but there comes a point when the idea that they are playing themselves into this season – and into a renewed quest for honours – has to start looking more convincing.

That time has now arrived, and as Klopp blinked into the Belgrade night he’ll have seen a large dose of reality heading his way, along with a worrying question.

What if they and he just aren’t good enough?