Individual mistakes and a lack of team cohesion contributed to the hosts gaining the upper hand in the Europa League match.

Jurgen Klopp, the manager of Liverpool, concedes that the team’s defensive performance holds more significance for him than the influence of VAR in averting a late Europa League draw in Toulouse.

Individual errors and a lack of collective cohesion gave the hosts a 3-1 lead, but Diogo Jota’s 89th-minute goal, which followed Cristian Casseres’ own goal, brought the visitors back into the game and set the stage for a dramatic conclusion.

Twenty-year-old center-back Jarell Quansah was certain of tying the score in the final minute of extra time in the seventh minute. Nevertheless, following an extended interval, referee Georgi Kabakov was directed to scrutinize the pitchside monitor and concluded that Alexis Mac Allister had handled the ball, notwithstanding the fact that it had early on rebounded off his chest during the goal-scoring maneuver.

“However, after rewatching the video, I am convinced that it is not a handball; nevertheless, I am uncertain.” As expressed by Klopp.

“To be candid, the fact that, in all honesty, I would have preferred to see us perform better is a minor source of additional concern.” That warrants my full attention this evening.

“We worked extremely hard and were extremely focused on the outcome, but in football, timely and decisive decisions are crucial for success.”

A side that had utilized nine substitutions since Sunday’s draw at Luton was unable to establish structure or rhythm, and opponents who had just suffered a 5-1 loss at Anfield a fortnight earlier took advantage of the situation.

The critical opening goal conceded to Aron Donnum was not remedied by the error in possession committed by Kostas Tsimikas, which was caused by drowsiness in possession.

Klopp continued, “We must never again concede the goals that we conceded.”

“An early goal is plausible; nevertheless, a subsequent goal occurred under similar conditions: we were entirely exposed, our final line of defense was excessively deep, and the opposing team launched a counteroffensive.

“Two of their five goals were disallowed, which is obviously not in their favor.” Despite the unfavorable outcome, the execution merely failed to meet the anticipated standards.

“The defeat was predominantly merited, given that they prevailed in the majority of decisive engagements.” We came perilously close to securing the ball far too frequently but were unable to do so.

“Moreover, we conceded the ball with relative ease on at least two occasions; one of those instances led to a goal, and the categorization of the other goal as either permitted or disallowed remains indeterminate.”

“It simply did not perform adequately on defense.”

The loss ends a three-match winning streak for Liverpool, which has seen their lead in the group standings diminish to two points, although they still hold the top spot.

Furthermore, their inability to establish an early advantage prevented them from advancing to the knockout round of the additional play-offs, despite the fact that a LASK victory over Union Saint-Gilloise would have significantly widened their lead.

Consequently, the group standings will be determined in the championship round should Toulouse emerge victorious against Union in their forthcoming match. The trip to Belgium by Liverpool precisely coincides with the Premier League visit of United’s archrivals. Klopp likely desired for the match to be a dead rubber in order to have the opportunity to rest his players.