For Liverpool, all roads now lead to Basel. The euphoria following the recent victory over Manchester United coupled with the subsequent exciting draw against Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League quarter-finals has been replaced by chastened gloom, following the Premier League collapse against Southampton.
For Liverpool, All Roads Now Lead to Basel
Liverpool looked to be cruising after speeding to a two goals to nil lead, and then as has happened numerous times over the last few seasons, the wheels came off the Anfield racing car. Jurgen Klopp’s decision to replace Dejan Lovren with the fit-again Martin Skrtel proved to be a turning point in the game. Liverpool looked jittery defensively from that point on. Simon Mignolet initially bailed Skrtel out, with a fine penalty save. This was to prove only a brief respite as the Slovak’s sloppy defending seemed to unnerve the entire Liverpool defence. Southampton, seeing blood in the water attacked ferociously and were rewarded with three unanswered second-half goals.
The inconsistent nature of the teams in the race for fourth place in the Premier League suggests a few more twists and turns before the final Champions League qualifying place is decided. Reasonably speaking though Liverpool now looks to be only a fringe player in the race to finish fourth. Liverpool fans understand that there will be changes to the playing squad in the summer. Consistently underperforming players like Christian Benteke and Martin Skrtel will surely be moved on in the off-season, and the hope for Reds fans is that Klopp will finally build his own title challenging team. For now, though, the only chance of immediate success hinges on winning the Europa League final in St Jakob- Park on the 18th of May.
In order to do so, Jurgen Klopp’s side will first have to navigate a tough quarter-final against the in-form Borussia Dortmund. The German side remains unbeaten in 2016, achieving impressive victories over Tottenham Hotspur and FC Porto along their journey to the quarter-final. Their most recent Bundesliga victory was a ruthless 1-3 away demolition of FC Augsburg. Liverpool fans will recall that Augsburg pushed Liverpool all the way over two legs in an earlier round. Dortmund has racked up an impressive 13 wins and two draws in all competitions since the beginning of 2016. Liverpool most certainly enters into the quarter-final tie as underdogs.
Jurgen Klopp’s intimate knowledge of the Dortmund playing style and of his former players may yet prove to be Liverpool’s trump card. Injury worries regarding Roberto Firmino and Alberto Moreno will hopefully be cleared up in time for the first leg. Liverpool’s attacking play should pose problems for Dortmund, but they must also be wary of the lightning fast counter attacks from players like Marco Reus and Pierre Abameyang. Liverpool will have to put the nightmare of the Southampton collapse swiftly behind them. If the Reds can contain Dortmund and negotiate a result from the match in Germany, then a mouth-watering winner takes all shootout at Anfield beckons.
