Well, that wasn't half bad was it? If you'd of told me we'd leave Germany with an away goal and a draw prior to kick off I'd have bitten your hand off. The Reds put on a valiant performance at Jurgen Klopp's old stomping ground and should feel confident upon their return to Anfield.
I don't want to dwell on a negative because this result was a solid one for Liverpool but I felt like Coutinho went missing in this clash. He's definitely one of those players that can have an absolute stormer the one week and then barely feature the next. He just wasn't in the right positions and lost possession far too easily for me.
Perhaps the movement of Divock Origi took the shine off him slightly but even when he did get the odd chance to show off his skill or take a weaving run into the box, his usual final ounce of quality just wasn't quite there. Here's hoping he's back on track for the leg at Anfield because he's a big game player and we may just need another important Coutinho goal!
1) Divock Origi is an absolute legend
Ok, maybe that's coming on a bit strong but I thought the Belgian utterly justified his selection over Daniel Sturridge. It was a bold decision by Jurgen Klopp to leave Sturridge on the bench but he was rewarded for his bravery after a strong performance from Divock.
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| Image via theguardian.com: Divock Origi scores for Liverpool |
I'm guilty myself of perhaps not taking Origi seriously but he deserves nothing but praise for his 84 minutes. He always gives his all in every game he features in and against Dortmund his ability to run behind the defenders appeared to work perfectly. I thought he'd messed up the goal after what looked like a questionable first touch but he remained calm and scored on 36 minutes with the help of a slight deflection.
The only down side of course was that the second chance for Origi that followed minutes later was perhaps the easiest of the two. After timing his run perfectly and being one on one with the keeper he should have really found the back of the net.
2) Quiet Coutinho
Perhaps the movement of Divock Origi took the shine off him slightly but even when he did get the odd chance to show off his skill or take a weaving run into the box, his usual final ounce of quality just wasn't quite there. Here's hoping he's back on track for the leg at Anfield because he's a big game player and we may just need another important Coutinho goal!
3) Defence: the good, the bad and the ugly
Finally, it's back to that age old problem, the defence.
The good? This time out the good was definitely Mamadou Sakho who improved massively compared to his performance against Spurs. Some last ditch tackles and great awareness allowed him to keep Liverpool out of danger on several occasions on Thursday evening and he was massively helped by his partner Dejan Lovren.
The bad? Despite this partnership working almost faultlessly in open play, apparently when it comes to set pieces all that communication and awareness goes to pot because why on earty was 5ft 6inch Adam Lallana having to deal with 6ft 2inch Mats Hummels?! I'm not really sure why, but some of those organisational mistakes have to fall down to the defensive partnership I'm afraid. It's bloody frustrating to watch when we concede like that n'all after an otherwise solid performance.
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| Image via theguardian.com: Mats Hummels scores for Borussia Dortmund |
The ugly? I'm afraid I have to pick on Alberto Moreno here on this occasion. Up until recently I was quite an advocate for the Spaniard, I even did a post for Shoot on how much I liked him and felt he had the potential to improve and remove mistakes from his game but I'm afraid now I'm not so sure. His positional awareness leaves much to be desired and whilst he's fantastic on the break he causes far too many problems with the gaps he leaves in defence, especially against a side like Dortmund!