Liverpool vs. Basel: Score, Grades and Reaction from Champions League Game

Liverpool were knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday evening after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Basel at Anfield.

Needing to win to reach the last 16 of the competition, the Reds went behind early in the first half thanks to Fabian Frei’s fine strike, as the pressure of the occasion seemed to suffocate them. Lazar Markovic was then controversially sent off midway through the second half to compound the problems for Brendan Rodgers’ men, before Steven Gerrard gave his side a lifeline with a brilliant free-kick in the final 10 minutes.

Almost exactly a decade on from Gerrard’s last-minute goal against Olympiakos in similar circumstances, a strike that sparked their glorious run to victory in the final in Istanbul, Liverpool found themselves needing a similarly miraculous late intervention to save them once more. It would not be forthcoming, as some belligerent defending from the Swiss champions ensured they held out for the draw, finishing second in Group B in the process.

Real Madrid ended with a 100 per cent record in the group as they beat Ludogorets, a result that ensured Liverpool were awarded the unsatisfactory consolation prize of a place in the last 32 of the Europa League. But it was a brutally disappointing night for Rodgers and his men, with the manager likely to now face heightened interrogation about his methods and speculation about his long-term future.

Afterward, the Northern Irishman told ITV:

"

It’s been five odd years since we’ve been here. The players deserved to be in it this season, and now we have to fight going forward to be in this competition next season. We are not too far off the top four [in the Premier League] and, if we get there, we will be better in it next season.

There was a big investment in the summer, obviously we missed some players that are crucial to the way we play. But the players we have fit and available are giving everything they have.

"

Considering the imperative to win was with Liverpool, it was perhaps no surprise that they started the game with the more obvious intent, with Gerrard and Jordan Henderson both attempting speculative efforts inside the opening three minutes.

As the game settled into a rhythm, however, it quickly became clear that it was the visitors, with their organised pressing and quick, incisive counter-attacking, who were the more inventive and dangerous attacking side.

Liverpool looked ponderous when in possession, but Basel always seemed to be on the verge of creating a chance, with Shkelzen Gashi and Luca Zuffi in particular causing problems. Gashi narrowly missed the target with one good chance, but after 25 minutes Paulo Sousa’s team would nevertheless take a valuable lead.

It was good work from Zuffi and Frei that created the chance, the latter player taking the ball on the edge of the box and feeding it into his team-mate, who laid it back to him 20 yards out. Frei still had plenty of work to do, but he did it superbly—producing a low drive that arrowed into the far corner, leaving Simon Mignolet stranded.

Liverpool suddenly needed two goals to progress to the knockout stages, but it was Basel who continued to create the greater threat. Gashi was only denied the game’s second goal by a poor touch as he burst between the two central defenders, while the experienced Marco Streller should have done better when he was left unmarked at the far post. His volley was poor, however, and Liverpool were let off the hook.

Two minutes before half-time it looked like Liverpool’s task had been made even harder, when Gashi ran in behind Glen Johnson to collect Zuffi’s through ball and pass it beyond Mignolet. The linesman’s flag was up, however, ensuring the Reds went into the break with at least a modicum of hope.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Perhaps sensing the game was getting away from his side, Rodgers made two changes at half-time: introducing Alberto Moreno and Lazar Markovic for the rusty Jose Enrique and ineffectual Rickie Lambert. Again Liverpool burst out of the blocks when play resumed—Markovic making a couple of dangerous runs—but the lack of threat remained obvious in comparison to their spritely opponents.

The hosts were spending more and more time in the opposition half, but it was Taulant Xhaka who nearly got the game’s second goal on the hour mark, as his run from the halfway line ended with a low shot that skidded inches wide of the post.

Soon after Liverpool suffered a blow nearly as bad as a goal, as Markovic was sent off after catching Behrang Safari in the face with a stray arm. The Serbian looked to be trying to fend off the defender as he ran with the ball, but the referee interpreted it as violent conduct, immediately brandishing his red card.

Down to 10 men and without a man brought on to change the game, Rodgers’ reaction in the dugout was to hold his head in his hands as Markovic trudged off.

"I thought it was an awful decision," he added later. "If that was a sending off then you are going to have two or three sendings off every game.”

"

RED! Lazar Markovic! https://t.co/hdmulS5O8f #UCL #livbas

— GoalsAndMore (@GoalsAndMore) December 9, 2014"

As devastating of a blow as it was, the incident seemed to upset Basel as much as Liverpool, as if they were made tentative by such an obvious swing in momentum. They continued to struggle to pick the final ball that could create a clinching goal, while Liverpool remained determined at the other end: Basel surviving a desperate penalty appeal when Gerrard went down in the box. Replays showed goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik got a hand on the ball.

With just under 20 minutes remaining, Rodgers made one final roll of the dice, bringing on Philippe Coutinho for Lucas Leiva. Sousa, in reaction, put fresh legs up front—the prodigiously talented Breel Embolo replacing Streller.

"

GOLAAAAAZOOOOO DE STEVEN GERRARD!!!! 1-1 https://t.co/1Qpzjt8998

— Ale Padín (@alepadin) December 9, 2014"

With 10 minutes remaining, however, Liverpool finally got a lifeline. Sterling, deciding to go at it alone, dribbled toward the edge of the box, where he was brought down by Fabian Schar. It felt like the perfect opportunity for Gerrard and so it proved, the talisman planting his shot into the top corner to set up a frantic finish.

Zuffi had a powerful drive well-saved by Mignolet, before Henderson’s deflected header briefly threatened to creep beyond Vaclik. Schar, on a yellow card, then made a world-class intervention to prevent Sterling from bearing down on the goalkeeper, following Gerrard’s dangerous through ball.

Liverpool were throwing everything forward, but Basel stayed resilient—Martin Skrtel, as an unorthodox striker, unable to turn home from close range as Henderson’s rasping drive was palmed away by the impressive Vaclik.

It was a determined, spirited finish, albeit a case of “too little, too late." Liverpool’s Champions League adventure is over—considering their troubles in the Premier League to date, winning the Europa League may be their most likely route back into the competition next season. 

"I don't think we deserved better," Gerrard told ITV. "We have not gone out because of this performance, we weren't good enough away to Basel and we let in a silly goal away to Ludogorets. You qualify over six games and we have not been good enough.

"We need to get our main striker Daniel Sturridge back and get some more goals in the side. We need to get Mario Balotelli back and firing. That is not to take away anything from the lads who have played tonight and have slogged their guts out...but it has just been a game too far tonight and that has been because of a lack of numbers."

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Player Ratings

Player	Rating
Simon Mignolet	6
Glen Johnson	6
Martin Skrtel	7
Dejan Lovren	6
Jose Enrique	5
Lucas Leiva	5
Joe Allen	5
Jordan Henderson	7
Steven Gerrard	7
Raheem Sterling	7
Rickie Lambert	5
Substitutions
Alberto Moreno	7
Lazar Markovic	4
Philippe Coutinho	6

Player	Rating
Tomas Vaclik	8
Behrang Safari	7
Fabian Schaar	8
Marek Suchy	7
Luca Zuffi	7
Shkelzen Gashi	8
Mohamed Elneny	6
Taulant Xhaka	7
Fabian Frei	7
Derlis Gonzalez	7
Marco Streller	6
Substitutions
Breel Embolo	6
Marcelo Diaz	6
Walter Samuel	6

What's Next?

The draws for the first knockout round of the Champions League and Europa League take place on December 15. In the meantime, Liverpool's next Premier League game is against Manchester United on Sunday.

All quotes taken from ITV's live post-match broadcast.