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The biggest shock of the Champions League campaign so far, and arguably one of the biggest of all time came in Belgrade last night, as the Serbian Champions Red Star Belgrade, or to use their Serbian name, Crvena Zvezda, shocked European heavyweights and English high-fliers Liverpool in a 2-0 defeat.
The last meeting between the two sides ended in a 4-0 victory for Liverpool on matchday 3, while the Serbians also got trounced 6-0 by PSG in Paris on matchday 2, so The Reds were understandably overwhelming favorites to triumph in the match.
Liverpool are unbeaten in the Premier League, and sit top of the standings in Group C, hence they sought to further strengthen their qualification position by getting a victory in Belgrade, but their hosts had other ideas, as they outplayed their more illustrious visitors to deliver a result which nobody foresaw.
The loss halted Liverpool's momentum, and threw the group wide open, making it live up to its billing as the 'Group of Death'. Here in no particular order, we present five reasons why Liverpool lost the match to Red Star Belgrade.
#5 Jurgen Klopp's questionable tactics
Jurgen Klopp has built a reputation over the years as an astutely sound tactician and has been largely responsible for the transformation undergone at Liverpool since his arrival in October 2015.
The 53-year-old has overseen an overhaul of players at the club and has brought in those who are more suited to his playing pattern, with the result being that the club plays some of the most enthralling and captivating football, winning admiration from all over with their gengenpressing style of play.
His tactics and choice of players have been spot on thus far, but in faraway Belgrade, he made some questionable decisions which cost Liverpool victory in the match.
His decision to leave impact substitute Xerdhan Shaqiri out off the match squad entirely due to political indifferences robbed Liverpool off a genuine attacking threat and width in case things went south.
He also inexplicvably decided to start with Roberto Firmino on the bench, starting with Daniel Sturridge instead, and the result was that Liverpool's normally fluid attack was a bit blunt. The 29-year-old Englishman does not offer the dynamism that the Brazilian offers and this was evident in Liverpool's struggles, with their attack lacked cohesion, and The Reds failing to get a shot on target until the 71st minute.
Klopp also decided to start with Trent Alexander-Arnold, and while the 19-year-old's impressive trajectory cannot be underwritten, it is pertinent to note that he has suffered a dip in form this season, and has struggled in tough away matches, with Klopp preferring to start Joe Gomez in such conditions.
Jurgen Klopp finally attempted to rectify his mistakes at half-time, bringing on Firmino and Gomez for Sturridge and Arnold respectively, and although there was a slight improvement in their display, the damage had already been done.
Klopp deserves immense credit for Liverpool's rise from mediocrity, but on the night in Belgrade, he was largely responsible for the defeat with his questionable tactics and team sheet.
#4 Red Star Belgrade's home form
While Belgrade might be the glaring underdogs in group C, they are nowhere near being minnows, and boast a respectable pedigree in European football, as they triumphed against all odds in the 1991 edition of the European Cup, defeating Marseille on penalties in the final (neither PSG nor Napoli have ever made it to the semi-final of the tournament).
They were expected to bow out of the competition without much of a whimper, owing to the superior firepower of their group opponents, and it looked like they were going through to prediction when they conceded 10 goals and scored none in two matches against PSG and Liverpool.
However, it is pertinent to note that both those matches came away from their home, and they are an entirely different proposition when it comes to matches played at the Rajko Mitic Stadium, as Napoli found out.
The record-holding Serbian Champions are undefeated in 28 matches across all competitions at home, and opened up their UCL campaign this season with a 0-0 draw with Napoli, in a result which flattered the Italians, as Crvena were dominant for most of the match.
Liverpool came up against a team who have turned their home stadium into almost a fortress, and on a cold windy night in Belgrade, the odds were always in their favor of going away empty handed, just like they did on their only visit in 1973.
#3 Liverpool's attack failed to hit top gear
For the second away Champions League match running, Liverpool's attackers put up a blunt showing and failed to step up when it mattered.
Liverpool is widely regarded as having one of the most potent attacks in the world, as Salah, Firmino and Mane provide dynamism and complement each other to devastating effect, and scored over 90 goals between themselves last season.
So far this campaign, they have struggled to hit those heights, with Salah, in particular, being the chief embodiment of their struggles this term, as the Egyptian has failed to match performances of last season.
In Serbia, one-third of the attack was missing as Firmino started from the bench, but that served as no justification for the lifeless display of The Reds in attack.
They struggled to impose themselves on the match, and did not create any clear-cut chances throughout the game, failing to worry Zoran Popovic in the Belgrade goal, and consigning him to be a relative spectator throughout the match, in scenes which were reminiscent of Liverpool's performance in their 0-1 defeat at Naples on matchday 2.
They did not have a shot on target at all until the 71st minute and were largely restricted to taking wild speculative shots from distance which failed to hit the target.
Without goals, games cannot be won, and Liverpool's attack has scored them in abundance over the last year, but against Red Star Belgrade, they struggled to reach their normal levels, and this was a major factor in their shock loss.
#2 Their defense failed to cover itself in glory
Liverpool once had a penchant for conceding cheap goals and making defensive errors which cost the club dearly, as points were dropped and titles were lost.
That has largely been fixed since the arrival of Van Dijk and Alison Becker, and the pair have helped forge Liverpool into a defensively compact side, with an enviable home record, and currently have the second-best defense in the Premier League behind Manchester City.
Against Zvezda, there were shades of Liverpool of old, as old problems came to the fore with the defenders struggling to keep their opposition attackers at bay.
Milan Pavkov was the hero on the night for the Serbians, as it was his brace which consigned Liverpool to a third consecutive Champions League away defeat for the first time in their history, but The Reds would not be pleased with the way either goal came about.
Pavkov put the home side ahead in the 22nd minute, as he rose highest to connect with a corner by Chelsea flop Marco Marin, but the ever-reliable Van Dijk could have done much better to track his run and prevent him from having a free header.
Seven minutes later, Pavkov made it 2-0 after dispossessing Wjnaldum rather cheaply, before having a speculative shot from 25 yards out which Alison should have saved, to create an unwanted record of Liverpool conceding more than once in the first half of a UCL match for the first time since they conceded three in the opening 45 minutes of the 4-0 trouncing by Real Madrid in October 2014.
On a day which Liverpool's attack failed to live up to expectation, it was their defense which has been the recipients of much praise which let them down more.
#1 Sturridge failed to make the most of his opportunity
Daniel Sturridge is a player of undoubted quality, and on his day, the England international can hold his own with strikers anywhere in the world.
However, injuries have been unkind to the 29-year-old, and bar the 2013/2014 season where he showed his abilities alongside Suarez to lead Liverpool's ultimately fruitless quest for league glory, Sturridge has not had a full season without injury interruptions in his career.
He spent half of last season on loan to West Brom, and failed to stop the club's relegation to the Championship, as he was rarely fit to contribute his part to the cause.
He returned to the club at the start of the season, and despite reports linking him with a move away from Liverpool, Sturridge was adamant to remain and fight for his spot at the club.
The form of Salah, Mane and Firmino meant that displacing them from the starting lineup was always going to be a tall order, but Sturridge has largely done OK from the bench and scored a stunning equalizer against Chelsea in the Premier League to make a case for his inclusion in the starting 11.
His wish was granted, as he was preferred to lead the line in place of Roberto Firmino, but the Englishman failed to make the most of his opportunity, and he wasted the best opportunity Liverpool carved out in the match when he somehow blasted over from just six yards in the first half when it seemed easier to score than miss.
That miss came back to haunt Liverpool just moments later, as Pavkov gave Sturridge some lessons in finishing to put Belgrade ahead.
Sturridge has been agitating for a starting spot, and on a night when he got his wish, he did not make the most of his opportunity.
