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| Image via Facebook/ Liverpool FC |
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was frustrated by the chaotic atmosphere outside the stadium during his post-match interview with Toulouse supporters. The noise left him struggling to hear questions or translations from the interpreter as Uefa allowed the media conference to take place outside the ground. Liverpool's performance in a 3-2 defeat was attributed to their performance, with Liverpool being left aggrieved by a late Jarell Quansah equaliser being disallowed for handball following a lengthy and confusing VAR check.
Liverpool's bench featured plenty of first-team strength, including Luis Diaz, who started his first match following the release of his father by kidnappers in Colombia. Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Trent Alexander-Arnold all came on at half-time but made little impact. Darwin Nunez was introduced when the visitors pulled the score back to 2-1, while Diogo Jota found the net to make it 3-2.
Liverpool lacked flow and created few clear-cut chances until the frantic final minutes. The peak of the chaos came seven minutes into stoppage time when Toulouse failed multiple times to clear their lines, allowing young centre-half Quansah to slam home his first senior goal seemingly. However, several phases earlier in the move, the ball had ricocheted off Alexis Mac Allister's chest into his arm. Bulgarian referee Georgi Kabakov had already pointed to the centre circle, seemingly indicating 'check complete', but then was called to the VAR screen and disallowed the goal.
Former Liverpool players were angered, including Steve McManaman on television co-commentary. At the same time, Sky pundit Jamie Carragher reposted his comment on X from Wednesday night, describing VAR as a "disgrace." Klopp had to admit that his defensive failings played the primary role in the defeat, and he was more concerned that he would have loved his team to have played better.
Liverpool are still set to qualify for the Europa League knockout stages, but their path is not as clear as before kick-off. Victory in Toulouse, combined with LASK beating Union Saint-Gilloise, would have seen Liverpool as group winners. One win from their final two matches will ensure Liverpool at least finish in the top two, and if they beat LASK and Toulouse fail to defeat Union SG in the next round of games, Klopp's side are definitely through to the last 16.
