Liverpool battled to a well earned 1-1 draw with Dortmund tonight, thanks largely to brilliant performances from two defenders and our young, inexperienced forward Divock Origi.
Here’s how we rated the boys…
GK) Simon Mignolet – 7/10
Had a nervy moment early on when he had to skin the excellent Mkhitaryan with his feet, but otherwise punched and distributed the ball well. Held on to all low, skidding shots as well.
DR) Nathaniel Clyne – 7/10
Was better offensively than he was defensively, strangely. Provided a great outlet on the right flank and was often our most advanced player. Can’t allow Marco Reus so much space next week though.
DL) Alberto Moreno – 6/10
Lucky not to be booked for a silly late tackle which would have saw him suspended for the second leg. Rash at the best of times, Moreno was especially rash this evening, but mostly got away it.
DC) Mamadou Sakho – 8/10
Sakho had one of those nights where he threw himself into everything wholeheartedly, scaring the daylights out of us – but it worked – brilliantly. In truth, he kept us in the tie early on. One amazing block in the first-half saved a certain goal and he made good clearing headers as well.
DC) Dejan Lovren – 7.5/10
Part of a heroic centre-back pairing tonight. Like Sakho, Lovren made one jaw-dropping block and backed it up with lots of old school, no-nonsense defending when Dortmund piled on the pressure.
MC) Emre Can – 6.5/10
Picked up an early yellow which made his night difficult, but Can chose his tackles sensibly, taking calculated risks to get him through the night. Found himself out of position at times, but gave us a necessary physical edge centrally.
RMC) Jordan Henderson (Allen 45′) – 5/10
Injured after the first-half, the captain struggled early on with nerves, as did his team-mates. Found it hard to track the overlapping midfield runners and will be disappointed to pick up another problem after recently finding full fitness.
LMC) James Milner – 6/10
Gave the ball away far too much early on, which helped Dortmund find a rhythm, but improved as the game went on, and technically picked up an assist for Origi’s goal although he didn’t know much about it.
AMR) Adam Lallana – 6/10 (Firmino 77′)
Lallana’s been excellent recently, but bar good pressing and tracking back, we saw little of his best stuff in the final third. When in possession, he fed it wide instead of trying to create. Was beaten in the air by Mats Hummels
AML) Coutinho – 6/10
Our talisman was isolated quite often and couldn’t inject his genius the way we wanted him to. Had golden opportunities after around an hour, but Weidenfeller made two great blocks off decent efforts. Missed Roberto Firmino and Daniel Sturridge alongside him.
FC) Divock Origi – 8/10 (Sturridge 84′)
Justified Klopp’s decision to start him over Sturridge. Ran tirelessly, held the ball up like a seasoned pro and bagged a crucial away goal. Origi has won fans over this season, and nobody will complain to see him get a proper run in the starting XI.
SUBS:
Joe Allen – 6/10 – Some nice passes, but was bullied off the ball on occasion as well.
Daniel Sturridge – n/a
Roberto Firmino – n/a