KLOPP STOPPED
No happy return for Jurgen as stubborn Germans deny Reds
SO much for best-laid plans. In an i deal world, Jurgen Klopp’s return to Germany would have ended in a flurry of goals and a comfortable win.
The intention was for Liverpool to take care of Augsburg at the first attempt and make the second leg of their round-of-32 meeting a formality next Thursday. Klopp could then rest key players before the Capital One Cup final 72 hours later.
After a difficult night in Bavaria, though, that will not be the case. If Liverpool are going to progress, they will have to go full throttle at Anfield to see off a team who left their wretched domestic form behind and pushed their big-name visitors to the wire.
This game had captured the imagination of locals since the draw was made and the noise inside this compact, modern arena was befitting of the occasion, with 25,000 home supporters making the kind of racket you would expect from twice that many.
Yet if it was a big deal for the people in these parts, it was also a big deal for Klopp. It is fashionable to deride the Europa League but Klopp’s intention to win the competition was shown in the team sheet which, for the first time in his 31- game reign, featured no changes.
It meant another chance f or Daniel Sturridge, making only his third European appearance for Liverpool in three years, to play alongside Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino. This, clearly, is the forward line Klopp believes will transform his side’s fortunes.
That triumvirate terrorised Aston Villa on Sunday in the 6-0 mauling but they had to work significantly harder to fashion any scoring chances here as Augsburg defended with two solid banks of four and kept Liverpool at arms length for much of the first half.
Liverpool’s best opportunity in that period came in the eighth minute when Augsburg midfielder Markus Feulner dithered in pos- session and allowed Firmino to nip in and take the ball but, disappointingly, the Brazilian’s shot never troubled Marwin Hitz.
Augsburg’s determination to slow the game down left Liverpool frustrated and the only other chances they had before the interval were a shot by Jordan Henderson f rom 25 yards and a scuffed effort from Sturridge, both of which Hitz gathered easily.
But this was not just a defensive performance from a side 14th in the Bundesliga and only a point above the relegation zone. They made Liverpool’s defenders work and even shrugged off the disappointment of l osing main striker Raul Bobadilla to an early injury.
Klopp, in his own inimitable way, had said Bobadilla was so big his defenders would need GPS to get around him, but Augsburg never lost heart and, significantly, they looked most likely to find a break- through before the interval. With more composure, it would have arrived in added time.
A break down the right ended with Alexander Esswein twisting his way past Kolo Toure to find a clear sight of Simon Mignolet’s goal but, much like Firmino, he never gave the i mpression he would score.
Liverpool looked a long way from being Europa League winners here but there was a definite improve- ment in the second period as the game began to open up and within 90 seconds of the restart, Toure almost got his head to a terrific free-kick from Alberto Moreno.
If Toure’s failure to make a decent contact left Klopp frustrated, he was even more aghast in the 53rd minute when Liverpool’s best move saw James Milner scurry to the byline and zip in a perfect ball to Sturridge, who had eluded his markers in the six-yard area.
Yet just when it seemed certain that the next word would be ‘goal’, Sturridge failed to make a proper connection and the moment was gone.
His night would end not long after, with Klopp freshening up his attack by i ntroducing Divock Origi.
The Belgian offered no improvement on Sturridge, however, and in the end Klopp had to settle for a draw.
However, the German wasn’t happy with the overall performance of his players and said after: ‘I’m not 100 per cent happy about this game.
‘Doing the right thing at the right moment is important — we had a few good moments. In the second half we had three or four really good moves.
‘My problem is that I think, with our quality, we should do better. But I have to be patient.
‘Augsburg tactically were really good but we have our return match next week at Anfield.’