Mamadou Sakho returned to the starting XI last night, much to the delight of Liverpool fans everywhere, and proved them right with a monumental defensive performance.
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But Bordeaux substitute Jussie struck with nine minutes remaining to deny Liverpool victory in their opening Group B game. “This evening you saw a young Liverpool lineup and a lot of players rose to the occasion”.
It was striking that even when in their own danger zones, the likes of Jordan Rossiter and Joe Gomez were calm on the ball and looked to find a sensible pass to a teammate. It’s invaluable experience for them and I thought they acquitted themselves very well.
Lallana also impressed in France on his return to action following a fortnight out with a thigh injury, scoring the Reds’ goal in the 1-1 draw, and he will also hope to start against Norwich.
“But if you can’t win, especially away from home in European games, it’s important you get a point – and we certainly at least deserved that”.
Praising the England international’s impact, Rodgers was quoted saying by ESPN FC: “It was an outstanding goal”.
Sakho moved to Anfield from Paris St Germain in 2013 and wore the captain’s armband for the first time in Thursday’s UEFA Europa League draw in Bordeaux.
The Reds offered him a new deal in August but he refused to sign it as he feared his lack of playing time would ruin his chances of playing at Euro 2016.
Rodgers has left a number of first-team players out of the squad for the trip to France, with Christian Benteke, James Milner, Nathaniel Clyne, Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren and Lucas Leiva not travelling. His comments about Sakho could hint towards a switch to a 3-4-2-1 formation, or it could hint towards one of the current two first-teamers being dropped.
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‘He has trained very well, kept professional, done his extra work on his fitness and he has got his rewards for that.
