Liverpool were outclassed by Lyon as the French side cruised to a comfortable 3-1 victory in the Dubai Super Cup.
Jurgen Klopp named a strong first XI for the mid-season friendly, with virtually every first-team player not on international duty featuring in the side.
The Reds asserted their dominance almost instantly, capitalising on a defensive error and allowing Mohamed Salah to tee up Fabio Carvalho to finish into an empty net.
Liverpool‘s stars looked slightly rusty, as was to be expected having gone a month without playing a match, but the quality was still there to see in the first half as they looked a cut above their French opponents.
Lyon struggled to create meaningful chances of their own, but came close in the 35th minute when Moussa Dembele drew a save from Caoimhin Kelleher with a fierce drive.
But this was a friendly match, and there was always going to be scope for Lyon to get back into the game courtesy of some sloppy play from a rusty defender. Sure enough, Kelleher and Andy Robertson got their lines mixed up when dealing with a long ball over the top, allowing Alexandre Lacazette to burst past them and level the scores.
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Liverpool’s control over proceedings began to diminish in the second half, the game growing more stop-and-start due to a surprising number of fouls on both sides.
Klopp made five substitutions at the break and another five just after the hour, and perhaps the lack of cohesion in this new set of players was Liverpool’s downfall as moments later they found themselves behind.
Lyon substitute Tete dribbled masterfully through the Liverpool defence, dancing past multiple players before teeing up fellow substitute Bradley Barcola to score.
Liverpool’s youngsters looked out of their depth, and things went from bad to worse when Lacazette pounced on a rebound to smash home a third goal after Adrian had made a good save.
The dominance the Reds showed in the first half hour of the match seemed a distant memory as the minutes ticked away, Lyon cutting through them time and time again. Only the heroics of Adrian, who had replaced Kelleher at half-time, prevented the scoreline from becoming even uglier.
There was still time for a twist in the tale at the end of the 90 minutes, as the rules of the Dubai Super Cup…
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