Liverpool were dumped out of the Champions League last night, as they stumbled to a 1-1 daw with Swiss side FC Basel.
The Reds gave everything in the last 20 minutes but the previous 70 had done all the damage.
After the match Brendan Rodgers met the press to review what he’d just saw. This is some of what he had to say.
“We’re obviously disappointed but we can’t have any excuses about not qualifying – we had enough games”
“The big game for us was away in Basel, where we were disappointing, didn’t perform well, conceded a poor goal and lost out there. We can have no complaints.”
“In the first half we weren’t good enough – it’s as simple as that. Technically, we were way short. This is a competition, in particular, where technically you’ve got to be much better than what we were in the first half.”
“Our positioning wasn’t good, the options for the guy on the ball weren’t anywhere near what we would want and expect from a team that is based on a technical game. In the second half, we were much better on that front and showed more courage to go and play.”
“It has been a really good learning experience for us and we’ll fight as hard as we possibly can to ensure it’s not another five years. We’ve come a long way in a short period of time.”
Rodgers also made it clear that Liverpool would attack the Europa League with vigour next year.
It’s now the competition that Rodgers and his players find themselves in, and it may represent their best chance of Champions League qualification next season.
