Liverpool are still looking for their first win of the Premier League season as their problems continue.
Defeat at Manchester United means the Reds have two points from a possible nine and are already falling behind their rivals. Their reverse on Monday night came as a surprise and saw their backline questioned as Jurgen Klopp continues to deal with a lengthy injury list.
Liverpool have a chance to get their season back on track when they face Bournemouth this weekend whilst off the pitch they are still dealing with the aftermath of their Champions League final, which saw unsavoury scenes outside the Stade de France in Paris.
UEFA dodge blame for final scenes
UEFA have attempted to gloss over the chaotic scenes which preceded last season’s Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid in their technical report of last season.
Thousands of expectant fans descended upon Paris back in May, with the two European heavyweights going toe-to-toe to be crowned the best side in the continent. Madrid would ultimately run out 1-0 winners, but the game itself was marred by dangerous crushes and heavy handed police tactics outside the Stade de France.
The European governing body quickly attributed the cause of the 36-minute delay to fans and alleged that many were in possession of fake tickets. France’s sports minister Amelia Oudea-Castera and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin parroted the apocryphal tales from the stadium and attempted to shift the blame towards supporters.
However, a scathing report subsequently released by the French Senate exonerated both sets of fans and confirmed the scenes were caused by entrenched organisational failures. "It is unfair to have wanted to make supporters of the Liverpool team bear the responsibility for the disturbances that occurred, as the Minister of the Interior did to divert attention from the inability of the state to adequately manage the crowds present and to curb the action of several hundred violent and co-ordinated offenders,” the report released in July reads.
Klopp comments on "confusing" Man Utd defence
Klopp has discredited Manchester United's defending which prevented his Liverpool coming away from Old Trafford with anything other than a loss.
Speaking to Viaplay and reflecting on the defeat, Klopp stated: "We caused them massive problems. We were unlucky in certain situations, especially around the set-piece that we didn't score. That could have turned the game, hypothetical of course.
"But we had a good second part of the first half, so we wanted to build on that and showed the boys [at half-time] a couple of situations where we played exactly in the spaces where United couldn't even get [near] to us. I think there were really confusing defensive situations where nobody of them [United's defenders] knew anymore really where [Liverpool's attackers] were, but there were enough legs there so they could defend it. And we couldn't score."
Jota's ambitions
Diogo Jota has delivered a rallying cry to his Liverpool team-mates as they look to bounce back from a winless start to the Premier League season.
Asked his ambitions for the season, he told Sky Sports : "The aim to fight for every trophy. For me personally it is to try to score more goals than last year. To be better. To conquer things that I have not conquered before. To reach my prime. I know that I can still be a lot better. That is what makes me willing to give more every day.
“The hard thing is not to reach the top of the mountain but to stay there. That phrase makes a lot of sense, certainly to me. It is the hardest bit because you always have people who want to reach there for the first time. You can never let them have more will than you.”
