Rodgers plan to ‘keep a clean sheet’ backfires as Liverpool bow out of the Europa League [divider]

Brendan Rodgers admitted that he set Liverpool up to keep a clean sheet against Beşiktaş in the Europa League Round of 32 second-leg game at the Atatürk Olympic stadium.

Liverpool won the first leg at Anfield 1-0 and would have secured a place in the next round with a draw against Beşiktaş.

“Up until they scored their goal, we were quite comfortable in the game. Of course, we’re away from home, and the objective for us was to keep a clean sheet,” Rodgers told the official Liverpool website.

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Rodgers revealed that he was disappointed with the result but thought Liverpool did play well against Beşiktaş.

“We’re disappointed, of course, to go out in the manner that we did. We created opportunities in the first half, to make it really difficult for them,” he added.

The Liverpool head coach revealed that he thought his side defended well but got punished for dropping too deep in the second half.

“Over the course of the game, we defended very well and limited them to very few chances. But the one mistake we made, we got punished for, where we just got too deep and they scored,” Rodgers said.

Beşiktaş beat Liverpool 1-0 in regulation time to take the game into extra time. The Black Eagles went on to win the game on penalties.

The Turkish giants have yet to concede a goal against English opposition in European competition this season.

Beşiktaş are also undefeated against Premier League opposition in European competition.