UCL 2018/2019 : 5 talking points from matchday 5 of the group stage

#2 The Klopp project at Liverpool dealt a massive blow

Klopp's Liverpool are in danger of being eliminated

Ever since Jurgen Klopp arrived Merseyside in 2015, there has been undeniable progress at Anfield, as the club has gradually grown from laughing stock with lots of substandard players into genuine Premier League contenders.

They lost out in two Cup finals in his debut season in charge, while he secured Champions League qualification in his first full season in charge, and guided the club out of the group stage for the first time since 2009 en-route to their final run last season.

The Reds have won many admirers for their no-holds barred style of play under the German, and after expending world record sums for Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson Becker (since surpassed by Kepa), Liverpool fans would have believed that this would be the season where all the progress over the last three years translates into trophies.

They remain unbeaten in the league after 13 matches, but their task domestically is made much harder by the fact that Manchester City are in rampant mood to continue from where they stopped last season.

When the draws were made, fans and pundits alike pointed to Group C as the group of death, as Napoli were drawn alongside Liverpool and PSG, and the fact that all three teams still have their qualification destiny in their heading into the final matchday shows the group lived up to its billing.

Liverpool began the campaign in the best way possible, defeating PSG 3-2 on the opening day at Anfield, but they followed that up with an absolutely lifeless performance as they fell 1-0 to Napoli at the San Paolo.

Their next away match came against Serbian Partizan Belgrade who they had beaten 4-0 at Anfield on matchday 3, but in extremely shocking scenes, The Reds fell to a 2-0 defeat, as Klopp’s decision to rotate his squad backfired heavily.

Against PSG, Liverpool once more huffed and puffed to no avail, failing to test Buffon in the PSG goal by registering just one shot on target, which means that the normally explosive Liverpool frontline have managed just two shots on target in their last three away UCL fixtures which is an aberration.

Liverpool very much shot themselves in the foot considering how they started this UCL campaign, and if they fail to make it out of the group, they would only have themselves to blame and this would be a real shame considering how much has been invested into the team.