Boos at Anfield and a word that can safely be crossed off the list: The mood at Liverpool FC is tense ahead of the Galatasaray return leg. Dominik Szoboszlai is sounding the alarm the loudest.
In theory, any team in the world should consider itself lucky to face Tottenham Hotspur. Liverpool FC, however, seems to have misunderstood something, as they made an unfortunate mistake on Sunday. The question that arose after the 1-1 draw against the Spurs was: Who is the underdog here?
While the relegation-threatened visitors—who had recently suffered a string of dismal results—earned their first point under new manager Igor Tudor thanks to the late draw, the Reds suffered a setback that literally reverberates: Boos echoed through Anfield after the final whistle, and the mood was a mix of frustration and despair.
Just as against the three promoted teams—Sunderland (1-1), Leeds (0-0), and Burnley (1-1)—a must-win home game proved too difficult; once again, Arne Slot’s side combined inefficiency up front with lapses at the back. “I feel empty,” Dominik Szoboszlai admitted with genuine shame on Sky Sports Sunday evening, describing it as a “huge disappointment.”
The former Leipzig player, who had put Liverpool ahead with a free kick in the 18th minute, sounded the alarm: “We need to wake up, because if we keep this up, we’ll be lucky to make it to the Conference League. I don’t know why all this is happening; I really don’t.”
Although two direct rivals, Chelsea and Aston Villa, also lost, Liverpool—currently fifth in the table—must seriously worry about qualifying for the Champions League, even if the top five teams in England are likely to qualify again. Chelsea, in sixth place, is just one point behind and has a significantly better goal difference.
The Reds would have 60 points—a whopping 11 more—if you were to subtract the goals they conceded after the 90th minute. “Not again,” Szoboszlai grumbled after Richarlison’s late equalizer, which, however, didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. Once again, the defending champions had failed to seal the deal early in the match.
When asked why his team hadn’t been “cold-blooded” enough “today,” Slot suggested dropping the word: “I didn’t expect you to tack a ‘today’ onto the question. We haven’t been cold-blooded enough all season. Well, can you tell me why? It’s not because of the quality of the players—that much I can tell you.”
The coach could “understand” the boos just as much as Szoboszlai, though the latter didn’t leave it at that. “You should be behind us—after all, last season we clinched the title four matchdays before the end and everyone was happy,” the Hungarian also criticized. “Support us during this difficult time. We have to stick together and fight for the club.”
That’s the only way we’ll be able to turn around the 0-1 loss from last week’s first leg against Galatasaray on Wednesday. Another early exit in the Champions League round of 16 is likely to become a problem for Slot sooner or later. “Now it’s up to us to channel that frustration on Wednesday and put in a strong performance,” the coach urged—well aware that they had already failed to do exactly that against Tottenham.