Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits he has to find solutions to their away-day problem before the trip to Paris St Germain in three weeks.
A 2-0 defeat in Belgrade against Red Star made it three successive away Champions League losses and put their qualification from Group C in the balance.
PSG’s 1-1 draw against Napoli keeps Liverpool top of the table on six points but only on goal difference from the Serie A side with the French champions a point behind.
A daunting trip to the Parc de Princes awaits on November 28 – although a win would guarantee qualification – and Klopp hopes to have discovered a solution by then.
“I don’t say it is already serious if you lose twice but we have to make sure it will not happen again as the next game is an away game (against PSG) before a very difficult home game against Napoli,” he said.
“It is too early to say how it is. We have to make sure in Paris that we do better. We will talk about that but we can’t change it.”
A third successive Champions League away defeat equalled the run of 1979 which was ‘achieved’ over three seasons not three successive matches.
Klopp cannot quite put his finger on what it is which is affecting his side, but admits had they taken the relatively simple opportunity which dropped to Daniel Sturridge – starting in place of Roberto Firmino – in the 17th minute the outcome could have been so different.
“We had a lot of moments when we could get in control of the game and we didn’t do it, we just made the wrong decision,” he added.
“I saw a few games like this already and it is really difficult to find your mojo back.
“The first big chance to Daniel was a very big one. If – big if – we had scored early the game would have changed but we didn’t.
“We gave them too many set-pieces. They scored with a header from a corner and the second goal was out of the blue.
“We gave the ball away and that’s not cool in a game like this, an atmosphere like this, a situation like this. You then have to play your best football in a negative mood. it was a blow.
“We made life a bit too easy for Belgrade. That is the main problem.”
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