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Europa League final: Stats show Liverpool's second-half struggles against Sevilla

Liverpool's Brazilian forward Philippe Coutinho  reacts after losing during the UEFA Europa League final football match between Liverpool FC and Sevilla FC
Image: Liverpool conceded three second-half goals to lose the Europa League final

Liverpool's hopes of winning the Europa League fell apart in the second half of their final with Sevilla on Wednesday - and the stats illustrate how much the game turned in the final 45 minutes.

Daniel Sturridge had given the Reds a deserved lead just before half-time but Sevilla struck back just 18 seconds after the interval through Kevin Gameiro and a Coke double sealed a third-straight Europa League win for the Spanish side.

Liverpool fall in Europa final
Liverpool fall in Europa final

Match report of Liverpool's 3-1 Europa League final defeat to Sevilla

"At this moment we lost faith in our style of play," Klopp said of Gameiro's equaliser. "We changed from passing quick and simple to complicated, and lost our formation. I tried to change it, but you could see that maybe the team was shocked

"It is not good to concede a goal straight after half-time but you have 44 minutes to strike back and the reaction was the problem. We have to learn to react better in situations like this."

Statistics from the first and second half highlight the problems picked out by Klopp.

Liverpool v Sevilla - first-half/second-half comparison

Liverpool Sevilla
FH: 1 - SH: 0 Goals FH: 0 - SH: 3
FH: 8 - SH: 5 Total shots FH: 1 - SH: 10
FH: 4 - SH: 1 Shots on target FH: 0 - SH: 4
FH: 2 - SH: 1 Shots off target FH: 1 - SH: 3
FH: 2 - SH: 3 Blocked shots FH: 0 - SH: 3
FH: 2 - SH: 2 Corners FH: 3 - SH: 4
FH: 1 - SH: 0 Offsides FH: 0 - SH: 2
FH: 46.2 - SH: 40 Duels won (%) FH: 53.8 - SH: 60
FH: 73.8 - SH: 76.6 Passing accuracy (%) FH: 63.4 - SH: 76
FH: 49.3 - SH: 52.9 Possession (%) FH: 50.7 - SH: 47.1

Daniel Sturridge and Roberto Firmino

As well as the swing in goals, the number of shots from each side reflects the shift in momentum in the second period.

In the first half Liverpool had eight shots - with Sturridge curling a fine effort into the net - while their opponents managed one solitary effort which failed to hit the target.

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FBL-EUR-C3-LIVERPOOL-SEVILLA

But in the second half Sevilla fired 10 strikes at the Liverpool goal, with three of their four efforts on target beating Simon Mignolet, while the Reds worked opposition 'keeper David Soria with just one of their five attempts.

Sevilla also had more corners and won a higher percentage of duels in the second half.

Klopp has work to do
Klopp has work to do

Liverpool were close to Europa League glory but Jurgen Klopp will know he has lots to do.

Interestingly, Liverpool, who had seen less of the ball in the first half than their opponents, actually had more possession in the second half but, as Klopp says, failed to use it effectively. 

Liverpool v Sevilla - UEFA Europa League Final

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