DPA/Madrid
Former European champions Liverpool and Celtic made disappointing starts in the Europa League Thursday, being held to late draws at Bordeaux and Ajax - though Tottenham then salvaged British pride with a 3-1 defeat of Qarabag.
Liverpool took the lead in Bordeaux on a goal from youngster Adam Lallana, only for Jussie to level for the hosts with just nine minutes left. “We should really have won this match,” said Liverpool’s Lallana. “We should have added to our lead and killed the game off, to be honest.”
And Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers added: “We had so many young players in the team - and some of these players were playing their first games - so I thought it was very encouraging,” said the Reds boss.
“Coming away in European games is always tough to do, but with the lack of experience we had and a lot of the young players, I was delighted with that.”
Meanwhile in Amsterdam, Celtic - who had Emilio Izaguirre sent off - took the lead twice but eventually had to settle for a 2-2 draw after Lasse Schoene equalized for Ajax four minutes from the end.
“The last few minutes were painful for us,” said Celtic’s goalkeeper Craig Gordon.
“To play with 10 men for the last quarter of an hour was very difficult, to say the least ... Also, Ajax are a very good team. They kept coming at us right until the end, even after they had made it 2-2.”
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.
