KLOPP STOPPED
No happy return for Jurgen as stubborn Germans deny Reds
SO much for best-laid plans. In an ideal world, Jurgen Klopp’s return to Germany would have ended in a flurry of goals and a comfortable win.
The ambition was for Liverpool to take care of Augsburg at the first attempt, making the second leg of their round- of- 32 meeting a formality next Thursday. Klopp could then rest key players before the small matter of the Capital One Cup final 72 hours later.
After a difficult night in Bavaria, though, that will not be the case. If Liverpool’s Europa League campaign is to continue, they are going to have to go full throttle at Anfield to see off a team who left their wretched domestic form behind.
Klopp may have been given a giant pretzel by Augsburg, which he munched during his press conference, but that was the only gift Liverpool received. A 0-0 draw makes things complicated in more ways than one, particularly with Manchester City on the horizon.
‘We should not think too much about the final,’ said Klopp. ‘But it was not possible to come here and win 5-0. There was never going to be any chance of having an easy game in the second leg. If we had won 1-0 or 2-0, nothing would have been decided.
‘We will have to give 100 per cent to the end. If you want to save power, you will lose on Thursday and then lose on Sunday. The only thing we can do is think about winning on Thursday and then make sure we win on Sunday.’
Klopp gave Daniel Sturridge, making only his third European appearance for Liverpool in three years, another chance to play alongside Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino, the attack that had ripped Aston Villa apart last Sunday. This, from the outset, was a significantly more difficult task.
Liverpool were their own worst enemies, setting the tone in the eighth minute for a performance that disappointed Klopp when Firmino pickpocketed Augsburg midfielder Markus Feulner only to produce a shot that failed to trouble keeper 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 from Jordan Henderson from 25 yards and a scuttling effort from Sturridge, both of which Hitz gathered easily.
But this was not just a defensive performance from a side that are currently 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 losing 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 breakthrough before the interval. With more composure, it would have arrived in added time.
A break down the right ended with Alexander Esswein twisting and turning away from Kolo Toure to gain a clear sight of Simon Mignolet’s goal but, much like Firmino, he never gave the impression he would score.
Liverpool looked a long way from being Europa League winners, particularly when Sturridge failed to convert a glorious 53rd-minute opening after good work by James Milner. When it seemed certain 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 deciding to freshen his attack up by introducing Divock Origi.
The Belgian would only suffer the same frustrations as Sturridge and, in the end, Liverpool were content to take a draw after Cauiby, Bobadilla’s replacement, spurned a glorious opening and Ji Dong-won, another substitute, hit a post. Nothing is ever simple for Liverpool. Klopp knows this only too well.
‘I could say it’s 0-0, away from home, and everything is OK,’ said Klopp. ‘But I am not 100 per cent satisfied. I hope we can improve in the second game.’ EVERYTHING came right for Gary Neville on his 41st birthday as Valencia won 6-0 against Rapid Vienna. And it was more like rapid Valencia as Neville’s young team — with six players aged 23 or under — raced to a 5-0 lead inside 35 minutes. Spain Under 21 winger Santi Mina scored two and made goals for Dani Parejo, Alvaro Negredo and Andre Gomes. Substitute Rodrigo put the icing on Neville’s birthday cake with a minute left to play. The under-fire boss, enjoying consecutive wins for the first time, said: ‘Words like confidence and belief are misused but you could feel those things coming back when the second and third went in.’