Mainz vs. Liverpool: Score, Reaction from 2016 Pre-Season Friendly

Liverpool's pre-season campaign drew to a dour close on Sunday after manager Jurgen Klopp saw his men slump to a 4-0 defeat against his former club Mainz in Germany.

Daniel Brosinski and Jhon Cordoba netted for the hosts before the interval, while Yunus Malli and Yoshinori Muto scored after the break to ensure the Reds ended their 2016-17 preparations on a low note.

Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images

The result came in stark contrast to Saturday's 4-0 triumph over La Liga champions Barcelona, although Adam Lallana and Emre Can were the only players to make both starting lineups.

Commentator John Bradley highlighted just how quickly success can turn to failure, though the impact in pre-season is fairly minimal:

Despite keeping the stars of Barca at bay less than 23 hours earlier, Liverpool's new-look defence clearly struggled on Sunday in Mainz, where Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alberto Moreno started in the full-back roles.

However, the changed central-defensive pairing also appeared to have concerns, and it was after just 15 minutes that Brosinski found his breakthrough from the penalty spot.

Midfielder Jose Rodriguez ghosted his way to the Liverpool byline before attempting a last-ditch cross, but Andre Wisdom was adjudged to have handled the ball in a bid to block the pass.

Brosinski fired home the resulting spot-kick, but Goal's Melissa Reddy argued the referee's call was a harsh one:

"

Brosinski has Mainz 1-0 up against #LFC from the spot after a soft penalty was awarded against Wisdom for handball. Harsh call

— Melissa Reddy (@MelissaReddy_) August 7, 2016"

Divock Origi came off the bench to score against Barcelona on Saturday, but the Belgium struggled to make an impact as part of the starting XI against Sunday's German opponents.

The Reds' spirits were also dented on the stroke of half-time as Cordoba sprinted free of Joel Matip to angle in Mainz's second before the break. James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo noted the English side's heads were down:

Can and Lallana were among those who came off at the halfway mark, replaced by Kevin Stewart and Cameron Brannagan, while striker Toni Gomes came on for his senior Liverpool debut.

The response after the break wasn't exactly more hopeful, and it was evident the lack of first-team regulars was strictly limiting Liverpool's prospects of ending pre-season with a win.

Their hope was damaged further, too, when Malli forced home a powerful effort from outside Alex Manninger's area, although former Reds midfielder Neil Mellor noted Liverpool were deserving of blame:

The glut didn't stop there, though. Matip was once again the culprit just 15 minutes later, when Muto climbed high to notch Mainz's fourth—a complete reversal of the memorable result just a day earlier.

This ended up being a memorable outcome for the opposite reason, largely thanks to the defensive frailty displayed by Klopp's second-choice options.

Liverpool open their 2016-17 Premier League campaign at Arsenal in a week's time, but the Merseysiders will hope their usual XI can replicate the performance seen against Barca and not that in Mainz.

Sunday's hosts have a fortnight to wait until they travel to Unterhaching in the first round of the DFB Cup before heading to Borussia Dortmund for the beginning of their Bundesliga season a week later.

Post-Match Reaction

Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images

Liverpool's pre-season mood went from grand promise to what seemed like despair in the space of less than 24 hours, even though Sunday's rabble was made up largely of second-string players.

Speaking to the media after the 4-0 drubbing, Klopp admitted the difference in atmosphere was significant, but his team is still in a good place following Sunday's loss:

"

Yesterday we couldn’t stop smiling and that wasn’t right and today we can’t stop being disappointed and that’s not right too. 

We are in a good way 100%. We have a proper line up that we will have for next weekend. We will be strong. 

Until now we’ve done a really good job. But in situations like this today we have to find other solutions. This work won’t ever stop.

"

Klopp described it as not "really good" to fly some players into Germany on Sunday morning after they were involved in Saturday's triumph, adding it was "a very important lesson" to learn against his former club.

The Liverpool boss also noted that Marko Grujic's ankle injury wasn't "anything serious" ahead of the new campaign's start.