A much-changed Liverpool XI that took the pitch at the MCH Arena on Wednesday evening were held to a lacklustre 1-1 draw against Danish opponents Midtjylland.
Mohammad Salah’s goal in the opening minute of the game gave Jurgen Klopp’s side the lead, but the hosts did pile upon the pressure, later on, to salvage a stalemate as the Merseysiders ended their group stage campaign in the UEFA Champions League.
TEAM NEWS
Klopp made wholesale changes in his XI as opposed to the side that lined up at Anfield on Sunday during the 4-0 win over Wolves, with Trent Alexander Arnold being given the armband for the first time in his Liverpool FC career.
Divock Origi, Takumi Minamino, Rhys Williams, and Naby Keita all came into the starting XI as Firmino, Mane and Henderson were relegated to the bench.
MATCH PROCEEDINGS
A breakthrough inside the very first minute of the game provided Salah with a glorious opportunity to find the back of the net, and the Egyptian forward did not disappoint, putting the ball past Hansen with a toe-poke finish.
Takumi Minamino’s well-crafted move gave Diogo Jota a chance to double the Reds’ lead but this time Hansen was up to the task and defied the Liverpool FC forward in spectacular fashion.
Before the close of the first half, Naby Keita and Divock Origi both got efforts on goal but neither was able to increase upon the visitors one-goal advantage heading into the closing 45 minutes.
A lengthy VAR call after an offside decision chose to award Midtjylland a spot-kick after Kelleher’s challenge inside the box. Scholz stepped up and duly converted the penalty, levelling the scoreline in the process.
Late chances did fall either side’s way to secure all three points from the final group stage fixture, and it seemed as if the Reds had gotten away with yet another close call win when Minamino’s header in the dying moments of the game found the back of the net.
But, following another VAR call, Sadio Mane was found to have handled the ball in the build-up to the goal, and Jurgen Klopp’s side had to be satisfied with a 1-1 result from their travels to Denmark.
