Dropping into the Europa Conference League playoffs has never felt so good. Forget the names on the teamsheet, the youngest side to represent Liverpool in Europe still represented a monumental scalp to Union Saint-Gilloise and the Belgian Pro League leaders celebrated victory as though they had won, not exited, the Europa League. Jürgen Klopp’s raw side rarely threatened to spoil the party.
Union players leapt into the air and danced before their jubilant supporters after a deserved victory over a Liverpool team unrecognisable in appearance and performance. The group finale may have presented Klopp with an opportunity to rest weary limbs before Manchester United’s visit on Sunday but the hosts ensured the importance of the occasion – to everyone connected with Union at least – was lost on no one. They needed a win and Toulouse to lose at LASK to have any chance of staying in the competition. Only Union delivered on the deal.
“You can say ‘Ah, they changed their team’ but it’s Liverpool, and we beat Liverpool,” beamed Union’s coach, Alexander Blessin. “We wanted to create a magical night and we did this with our fans.”
With the group won, Klopp gave Mohamed Salah, Alisson, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold the night off and Ben Doak, Kaide Gordon and young full-backs Conor Bradley and Luke Chambers a chance to impress in a starting XI with an average age of 22 years and 156 days. He also picked the insurance of experience in Curtis Jones, Wataru Endo, Cody Gakpo and Ibrahima Konaté but without success.
Even allowing for the makeshift nature of Liverpool’s defence, the number of times they were exposed down both flanks or struggled to stop Union raids down the centre illustrated the importance of Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold to a functioning Klopp team. Konaté toiled in their absence for the 45 minutes he was on the pitch while the front three were starved of quality service.
The Liverpool manager admitted: “It was a deserved win for Union, even when I hear their first goal might have been offside. Who cares?” A sentiment he would never utter after a game with something at stake. “They are top of the league and the amount of changes I made was too much to have rhythm. It was tricky on a difficult pitch but what I really liked is the boys gave it a proper go.”
Union’s opening goal was symptomatic of Liverpool’s first-half display. Gustaf Nilsson released Mohamed Amoura behind a high, exposed defence after Jones was dispossessed inside the Union half. Amoura charged down on goal and enjoyed a slice of fortune when rounding Caoimhín Kelleher. The Liverpool goalkeeper got a hand to the ball but could only flick it against Amoura’s shins, leaving him to open the scoring into an unguarded net. The goal stood despite VAR checking what seemed a clear offside against the goalscorer.
Liverpool, having created nothing at that point, were soon level from a set piece. Jones’s corner landed at the feet of Jarell Quansah, left unmarked on the penalty spot by Nilsson, who swept an excellent finish past Anthony Moris. Quansah’s first Liverpool goal ensured Klopp’s team equalled a club record of scoring in 34 consecutive games in all competitions.
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Liverpool were not level for long. Amoura caused more problems before finding Cameron Puertas breaking from midfield. Puertas took the shot first time and found a gap just inside Kelleher’s near post. The connection was clean, but the goalkeeper could have done better.
Another precise finish from Puertas appeared to have made the game safe for Union but was disallowed after a pitch-side review for a handball by Lazare Amani in the buildup. Harvey Elliott almost salvaged a draw in stoppage time but Moris saved what was a rare attempt on goal by Liverpool. On to Sunday.
