Iraola explains Liverpool attacking changes in defeat to Fenerbahce

Andoni Iraola explained his decision to reshuffle his Liverpool attack in their 3-2 defeat to Fenerbahce, including starting Bradley Barcola through the middle.

The Liverpool boss opted to start Barcola centrally while Victor Munoz and Rio Ngumoha were also handed starts, with Alexander Isak coming off the bench in the second half and scoring.

“We put in Victor and Rio, they were more fresh,” Iraola explained.

“We thought also that for Alex it was maybe good to play 30 minutes, not more.

“We wanted to try Bradley. We tried Cody in the past week against Chelsea. We wanted to play Bradley.”

Iraola felt Barcola’s pace could cause Fenerbahce problems through the middle but acknowledged the forward has generally been more dangerous from a wider position.

“We thought it would work well because I think Bradley, in terms of speed and the match-ups, it could be good for him,” he said.

“He hasn’t found the position too hard.

“All season he has been better when he has played outside wide, and then obviously with Cody, with Alex, I think we’ve been more dangerous.”

Liverpool twice led in the tie through Trey Nyoni and then Isak but suffered their first defeat of the Champions League campaign in Istanbul.