[ad_1]
Liverpool headed to Denmark to face FC Midtjylland in a match that mattered no more than pride: the Reds would pass first in the group and Midtjylland would be out of Europe no matter what. The result was a heavily rotated Liverpool that played a game that mostly ranged from disjointed to boring with the occasional moment of confusion, often of the VAR-induced variety, to try and liven things up.
Winners and losers
Captain Trent
Arguably the most exciting moment for Liverpool fans came before kick-off when it was announced that Trent Alexander-Arnold was set to take the captain’s armband, which could place the young Scouser as the fourth option in the order. hierarchical behind Jordan Henderson, Vrigil van Dijk. and Gini Wijnaldum.
Alexander-Arnold has already won the Premier League and Champions League and made nearly 150 appearances for Liverpool’s first team at just 22 years old. Now, you can add the Reds captaincy in Europe to your resume.
On the other hand, for young Trent, once the game started to rust, his game became apparent after his recent firing due to injury, although that probably made it a good game for him to hopefully get over it ahead of a busy December in the league where his fully honed talents will be needed hanging around the right.
Salah Record
Mohamed Salah scored what could have been his least aesthetically pleasing goal for Liverpool, a clumsy and clumsy effort that saw the speedy winger caught by the pursuing defender as he broke the arc and looked up to choose his spot only to be said. defender then made noise. The ball left Salah’s right foot, where it passed a rather stunned goalkeeper and then dribbled at half speed into the net.
It was the fastest goal ever scored in the Champions League by Liverpool, in just 55 seconds. It was also Salah’s 22nd goal, leading him to surpass Steven Gerrard as Liverpool’s all-time Champions League goalscorer, doubly ensuring that this ugly goal in a game that didn’t matter would have a place in the books. of club records.
And speaking of that record book, he definitely leans towards recent payers for obvious reasons, with Sadio Mané third and Roberto Firmino fourth and both within reach of outwitting Gerrard if they stick around for a season or two more.
Fabinho the middle half
Remember when everyone was worried about Fabinho being Liverpool’s central fourth half?
No more. And if anyone had any doubts about the importance of the versatile Brazilian with Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez out of season, one has only to look at the generally solid first half for a team that saw a defensive core of Leighton Clarkson, Rhys Williams, and Caoimhin Kelleher joined Fabinho and then the generally terrifying second half when he was replaced by the preseason darling and a very large human, Billy Koumetio.
None of which is intended to be a slight against Liverpool’s promising youngsters, not Clarkson, not Williams, not Kelleher, not Koumetio, but rather to highlight Fabinho as the veteran leader capable of making three promising youngsters seem like a reasonable pick for the league. Reigning England and world champions. And the player without whom they all became the promising youngsters again but a bit out of their depth that they realistically still are.
Dissecting the narrative
The sometimes unstable performance of a defensive core made up entirely of young players will not, or at least should not, harm the perception of them as very promising youngsters. And at the end of the season, no one will remember much that Liverpool lost points in a game that didn’t matter. However, a number of Liverpool fringe players who have found the narrative to be biased against them certainly didn’t do themselves any favors.
From Kostas Tsimikas on left back to Naby Keïta and Takumi Minamino in midfield and Divock Origi up front, all four failed to impress given their opportunity against Midtjylland, and all four will likely end the match with general consensus to a solid. notch below when they finished. On it. Although the credit should at least go to Origi for looking like he was trying to make a turn as a substitute for Roberto Firmino in false nine.
What happens next
It’s all about the league for the next time, and the round of 16 doesn’t end until the week of February 16.
However, before that, at least we have the draw we look forward to on Monday. As group winners and with no English clubs qualifying from second place, it means the Reds could pair up with anyone except the side they shared Group D with, Atalanta.
For Jürgen Klopp and his players, that means Monday could bring with it a date against Atlético de Madrid, Borussia Mönchengladbach, FC Porto, Sevilla, Lazio, Barcelona or RB Leipzig. As group winners, the second leg of the round of 16 will be played at Anfield.
