RB Leipzig boss Marco Rose gives honest verdict on defeat to Liverpool
The Reds continued their 100% start to the competition following a 1-0 win at Leipzig
RB Leipzig manager Marco Rose did not hold back in criticizing his players following their 1-0 loss to Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Darwin Nunez’s first-half strike was enough to secure the win for the Reds in Germany, maintaining their perfect record in the competition.
In contrast, Leipzig have now lost all three of their group-stage games.
For much of the match, they struggled to impose themselves against Liverpool, only finding some momentum late in the game but failing to convert their pressure into a goal.
Marco Rose admitted his team fell short in several areas, acknowledging the Bundesliga side was outclassed for large portions of the contest.
“We conceded a goal with Liverpool’s first chance,” said the Leipzig boss.
“Then we certainly had situations in between where we had to suffer a bit.
“But that’s also down to us.
“What I didn’t like was the way we handled the ball in certain phases.
“We started the game well and then gave balls away too quickly, had too little rhythm in the game and as a result kept inviting Liverpool to switch and had to run after them.
“In the end we scored two goals that were offside and had a great chance from Sesko.
“You just have to score at that level if you want to take something away from it, because you don’t get that many.”
Leipzig’s former Liverpool goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi echoed this sentiment, having been called upon to make a series of crucial saves during the visitors’ dominant spell.
“In the end, we had a few good chances to equalise,” said Gulacsi.
“Overall, we were very sloppy in the final third and lost the ball a lot of times.
“That’s why we couldn’t really play deep against them.
“That’s why there were a lot of counter-attacks.
“With a bit of luck, we might have been able to take a point. We’re not lucky in the Champions League.”
Leipzig defender Willi Orban also added: “We kept up well, but this is Liverpool, one of the top teams in the world.
“We didn’t defend consistently enough and we weren’t precise enough with the ball in the final third.
“But the bottom line was that the performance was okay.
“We are currently not in a position to be there in the decisive moments against the top teams in the Champions League.
“But we have a young team, some of them are playing their first games in the Champions League.”
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