FC Porto 2-16 Liverpool: why do Conceição's side fall apart against Klopp's?
In five meetings with Liverpool in the last 4 years, FC Porto have managed to find the back of the net twice and even draw a one-off game - but their overall record is a complete horror show, having lost by an aggregate scoreline of 2-16.
It is an atrocious record against what is obviously one of the greatest teams on the planet. But that Porto’s struggles have been almost exclusively against Klopp's team, having fared well against some other world renowned football clubs, is more than slightly intriguing.
To suggest Porto are just simply a bad team is far too simplistic, and evidently inaccurate. After all, this is a team that have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League in each of their last four participations in the competition, reaching the quarter-final twice in that time. To do that at the most elite of levels is an illustration of not just a good side, but one of the great clubs in Europe.
They knocked out Juventus over two legs in the round of 16 last season - having even drawn against Manchester City in the group stage and beaten Marseille and Olympiakos both home and away. In the match before the humiliation against Liverpool - which occurred just two weeks prior - they held reigning La Liga champions Atletico Madrid to a 0-0 draw - in Madrid. Yet against Liverpool, they were entirely outclassed.
So then what on earth is going on when it comes to taking on Liverpool? Worse sides than Porto have managed to compete far more competently with the English giants, and some have even managed to nick a point… or three. Porto have now had five attempts at cracking Klopp’s code - but are getting no closer, defeated comprehensively at home by their ultimate bogey team yet again.
Indeed, it is at home where they have truly struggled, beaten 0-5, 1-4 and now 1-5. It is at the Dragão that they have scored both their goals against Klopp's men, but that counts for very little when you're also conceding 14, in just 3 matches.
Players missing and a worse squad than in years gone by
One potential explanation for how emphatically outclassed Porto were is that they were missing both of their starting central defenders. The veteran, but world class, Pepe, so important at the heart of defence, was expected to make a surprise start versus Liverpool, but had to pull out after the warm-up, while his usual centreback partner Chancel Mbemba was also out for the match through suspension.
It meant Porto had to start Ivan Marcano, who has played a handful of games this season but missed almost a year of top flight football last season due to injury, and Fabio Cardoso, who was yet to play a competitive fixture for Porto having arrived from Santa Clara in the summer. It was not the ideal fixture to be making your debut in.
Meanwhile the young Diogo Costa, who has been excellent this season covering for the injured Marchesin in goal, maintained his place in the starting XI for Porto, and, though he showed glimpses of his quality, struggled on the night, making a couple of costly errors.
Porto also had to do without the experienced Otávio in midfield, who picked up an injury very early on in the fixture.
That, however, doesn't explain how Porto ended up on the wrong end of another heavy defeat. Even without those key players, Porto should be able to compete to some extent against Liverpool, even if they were always expected to lose. To concede five made it a scarring night for all involved.
And perhaps that is another factor. Though this team is almost entirely changed from the one that faced Liverpool in their last home thrashing, Klopp's side likely had the psychological edge, with the Porto players aware of what Liverpool managed to do to them in the last couple of meetings at this ground. It shouldn't be the case, but maybe those previous results were playing on the minds of some players.
The decision to take off striker Toni Martinez for defensive midfielder Grujic at half time also seemed like a fairly reasonable change to try and add additional midfield cover to prevent this from becoming another disastrous night for Porto, but it ultimately just handed the incentive to Liverpool, who only became more dangerous as they saw more of the ball and Porto struggled to get out.
One major factor, however, is that this Porto team is not as good as the previous sides to have taken on Liverpool. They lack the individual quality of the past, where Felipe, Elder Militão, Alex Telles, Danilo Pereira and Hector Herrera - now at the likes of Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Manchester United and PSG - would all start regularly.
In this Porto side, the strength comes from the collective; the organisation and commitment of the players often helps them through in these mammoth Champions League fixtures. But if past Porto teams have failed to contain Liverpool, perhaps we should have expected this team to do the same. Why Liverpool always manage to beat Porto so convincingly away from home, though, remains a bit of a mystery.
