What Liverpool needs to advance in the Europa League after defeat against Toulouse

It was a very complicated match in France

10/11/2023, 09:38 AM +00:00

Just a few hours after learning of the release of his father, kidnapped since October 28, Colombian Luis Díaz started for Liverpool in Toulouse, where the English lost 3-2 to the French. It was on the fourth day of Group E of the Europa League, the second continental club tournament. Liverpool had won in the first three rounds and, despite this slowdown, they remain leaders (9 points). ahead of the Belgian Union St Gilloise (3rd, 4 points), who lost 3-0 in the field of the Austrian LASK, which has 3 points and opens its locker after falling in the first three days.

Toulouse went ahead 2-0 on the scoreboard with goals from the Norwegian Aron Donnum (36th minute) and the Dutch Thijs Dallinga (58th). Liverpool, third in the Premier League, had given playing time to less common players, but after the break Jürgen Klopp brought in Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szobszlai.

The 'Reds' pulled one back in the 73rd minute with a goal against Venezuelan Cristian Cásseres Jr, but the French-Cameroonian Frank Magri (76) once again distanced the French team. The Portuguese Diogo Jota (89) brought the English closer again, who in stoppage time (90+7) even believed they had equalized through the Uruguayan Darwin Núñez, but that goal was annulled after the video review due to a handball from the Argentine Alexis Mac Allister at the start of the play.

What Liverpool needs

Luis Díaz did not score. He had already played in the last minutes of last Sunday's Premier League match in Luton (1-1), where he scored his team's equalizer and dedicated it to his father. This Thursday's victory unleashed euphoria in the TFC Stadium, which with 32,026 people - of them 1,200 English - experienced a record attendance since the renovation of the venue for the Euro-2016. Toulouse, just fourteenth in the French league, also takes revenge for its 5-1 defeat at Anfield against Liverpool on matchday three. With this, Liverpool negates victory in their next game against LASK Linz to ensure they advance to the next round.