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Sevilla Kopitulation exposed the truth of Liverpool’s ‘new resolve’

LIVERPOOL’S spectacular Champions League collapse has set the alarm bells ringing among the players.

For the past month, the Reds have shown just how dominant and devastating they can be in attack.

They have scored three or more goals in their last five matches, breaking a club record stretching back more than 30 years, and in the previous four before Tuesday night had conceded just one.

But after seeing a 3-0 half-time lead dissolve into a 3-3 draw at Sevilla, the realisation the defence could undermine their season started to dawn.

Instead of cruising into the knockout stages of Europe’s elite competition, Liverpool now face a test of their nerve when they host Spartak Moscow at Anfield needing a point.

Midfield powerhouse Georginio Wijnaldum admitted the signs of a continuing naivety and inexperience were far from reassuring.

“We were really ruthless in the first half, and if you’re 3-0 ahead away you have to play smarter,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s a bad result to get a draw in Seville but the way we gave it up I don’t think is a good sign.

“You have to know when they score, with the crowd they have, they get more and more confident.”

Those same fears were expressed by both manager Jurgen Klopp and skipper Jordan Henderson, a collective acceptance the second half in Spain simply was not good enough.

There is also agreement that Liverpool must start learning from their devastating experiences, which have been repeated too often this season – think Watford, think Manchester City, think Spurs.

Yet even though there have been far too many draws in games they should have won at a canter, Wijnaldum believes the Reds have not been damaged fatally by the meltdown at Sevilla... and may have escaped with just a bloody nose and important lesson, to live to fight another day.

“On paper it’s a good result – the good thing is we still have it in our own hands,” he said. “We have to remain positive about that. It’s painful when you look back at the game but we have to go again on Saturday. We have to speak with each other, lift each other up, put this behind us and concentrate on Chelsea.”

Klopp said simply, “It wasn’t good enough”, Henderson suggested the players “let themselves down”, but both believe it is a question of inexperience, not a lack of character and moral fibre.

Liverpool have been accused of lacking leaders, but the manager was quick to counter that argument.

He said: “We could have done better 100 per cent, but do I think it’s a mentality problem? One hundred per cent not.

“We can’t think like this, it was just a mistake in the game. We can’t change the result now, but we can learn from it, and progress.”

You have to know when they score, with the crowd, they get more confident