Whatever way you look at it, it makes absolutely no sense that Mo Salah played 90 minutes of a dead-rubber on Thursday night against Sparta Prague, rendering him only capable of 70 at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Jurgen Klopp has been sublime this season. His substitutions and the manner in which he’s coped with his team’s injuries and trusted younger players have been exceptional, but his game management against Manchester United was poor.
Liverpool were cruising in the second half. If anything, it was too easy. Then, Klopp took off Salah, Andy Robertson and Dom Szoboszlai and completely sacrificed control. Cody Gakpo had no energy or running up top and the tide turned.
By extra time, Liverpool were out on their feet, and the two players who gave goals away, Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott, were completely shattered.
The decision to send everyone forward to a corner in the dying seconds was also reckless. At that stage, Liverpool still had a 50-50 chance thanks to the upcoming penalty shootout.
It was a game too far for a team and manager who’ve been nothing short of heroic this season.
In the end, it was a huge waste of physical and emotional energy, but at least Liverpool had a chance to regroup thanks to the international break.
The bigger game at Old Trafford this season will take place in the Premier League on 7 April.
Jordan Chamberlain can be found on Empire of the Kop, external