1. Basel is the Premier League’s Champions League dominatrix: a quiet little hideaway where English football’s rich elite head for a spot of ritual humiliation.
2. Liverpool have conceded again from a set-piece. Their misfiring efforts going forward were again compounded by a failure to do the basics well in defence.
3. Steven Gerrard could do with Serey Die alongside. The Basel midfielder was all-action; breaking up play, setting his team up going forward and constantly running. Just the sort of assistance that would help Gerrard out.
4. Relying on a teenager is risky business. Raheem Sterling’s final ball just wasn’t there tonight, yet Liverpool’s attacks invariably found their way to him.
5. This was vintage Mario Balotelli of the bad kind. The Liverpool striker was a lumbering figure up front. He was caught offside through laziness a few times, he started sulking when things didn’t go his way, he was on at the ref and he was booked for an off-the-ball incident that he didn’t need to get involved in. You could almost see Brendan Rodgers guessing what was coming next.
