SV Darmstadt 98 boss says what he found ‘difficult to accept’ in Liverpool loss

SV Darmstadt 98 manager Torsten Lieberknecht found it 'difficult' to accept' that his side conceded two set-piece goals against Liverpool.

The Reds' final dress rehearsal ahead of the 2023-24 season ended with a 3-1 victory over the German side at Preston North End's Deepdale on Monday night.

Liverpool opened the scoring in the fifth minute when a corner found its way to Mo Salah inside the area, who finished from close range. Then Jurgen Klopp's side doubled their advantage three minutes later through Diogo Jota.

Mathias Honsak did reduce the arrears for Darmstadt before Luis Diaz;s inventive flick from another corner in the second half wrapped up the win for Liverpool.

The Reds' attention now turns to Chelsea on the opening day of the Premier League campaign this Sunday. Darmstadt, meanwhile, are preparing for life back in the Bundesliga and their first game is against Eintracht Frankfurt later this month.

Lieberknecht, a former team-mate of Klopp from their playing days at Mainz, took a lot from the game. He told Darmstadt's website: “We conceded two goals from set pieces, I find that difficult to accept. But we found our way into the game after it was 2-0, had good runs and good passages. We were brave there. We can glean a lot of positive things from the game and some sporting insights. Today was definitely an experience for my boys.”