Milner baffled as Liverpool fails to take its chances in Red Star defeat

Red Star Belgrade defeated Liverpool 2-0 on Tuesday, though James Milner is adamant that it had enough chances to get a result in Serbia.

Published : Nov 07, 2018 02:58 IST

Liverpool midfielder James Milner
Liverpool midfielder James Milner
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Liverpool midfielder James Milner

James Milner was left bemused by Liverpool's inability to make the most of its chances in Tuesday's shock 2-0 Champions League loss to Red Star Belgrade.

Milan Pavkov scored both goals for Red Star, as it picked up its first win of the season in the Champions League and blew Group C wide open.

Liverpool would have been four points clear at the top – for at least a few hours – had it won, but its inability to do so means Napoli or Paris Saint-Germain can overtake it.

READ:  Red Star Belgrade 2 Liverpool 0: Pavkov double blows Group C wide open

The Reds certainly had its chances in Belgrade, but it hit the frame of the goal twice and came up against a Milan Borjan in good form between the posts. Nevertheless, Milner was frustrated by Liverpool's failure in front of goal.

"I think the chances just aren't going in for us. I don't know how many chances, very good chances, we had tonight, but it felt like a lot," Milner told BT Sport .

"That's the thing, not taking the chances when we're creating them. Last season, we were scoring a lot of goals and they were going in, and now, they're not."

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"If we take those chances tonight the game looks a lot different. We can't be letting teams get a start. From the first whistle, we didn't start well enough, and that showed with them getting the two goals."

"In the second half I thought we did better, obviously, we had enough chances to get back into the game, but we didn't take them and you get punished."

In the build-up much was made of the atmosphere Red Star fans create, though Milner insists that it was aware of what it was walking into.

"We knew [about the atmosphere]. The crowd was big for them and it's been a long time since they've been in the Champions League, it was always going to be a big game. Napoli came here and found it tough as well, so it's a tough place to come, but we expected that," he said.

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