"Marcotti: Let's not kid ourselves, because we knew the bump in the road was coming. Sure, they won six in a row -- seven if you count the Carabao Cup, which you really shouldn't -- but the writing was on the wall and when you need late goals to win time and time again, something's wrong. Performances matter, and they simply haven't been there."
"There's also, in my view, a massive misconception around Florian Wirtz. It's a big enough jump going from Bayer Leverkusen with their 25,000-fans-per-game average attendance to the spotlight at Liverpool. To compound this by having him play in the No. 10 hole -- something he didn't really do much at all at Leverkusen, certainly not with two wingers and a striker in front of him -- and effectively learn a new position on the fly hasn't helped."
"The second matchday of the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League league phase is in the books and, while the table is only starting to take shape, there are plenty of talking points beginning to crop up. Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain won away at Barcelona, while Arsenal and Real Madrid ensured that their campaigns have begun with maximum points. Liverpool, however, slumped to a 1-0 defeat against Galatasaray, while Julián Álvarez and Rasmus Højlund were amongst the goals in wins for Atlético Madrid and Napoli."
Matchday 2 of the 2025-26 Champions League produced notable results: Paris Saint-Germain beat Barcelona away, Arsenal and Real Madrid recorded wins, and Liverpool fell 1-0 to Galatasaray. Julián Álvarez and Rasmus Højlund scored in victories for Atlético Madrid and Napoli. Liverpool's recent pattern of needing late goals to win has masked persistent performance issues and repeated mistakes. Florian Wirtz faces a steep adaptation from Bayer Leverkusen's environment to Liverpool and has been deployed in an unfamiliar No.10 role, which has hindered his transition. Long-term improvement is possible under coach Slot, but tactical balance and alternative positioning for Wirtz may be required.
Read at ESPN.com
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