Jurgen Klopp issued a warning to his Liverpool players after their Premier League top-four hopes were hit by the concession of an injury-time equaliser against Newcastle United, declaring: "We learn, or we don't play Champions League."
The Reds headed into stoppage time having found the back of the net with just one of their 22 shots on the visitors' goal across a one-sided game at Anfield - Mohamed Salah's well-taken third-minute strike.
The hosts were given a huge let-off by VAR in the 92nd minute when a Callum Wilson equaliser was - somewhat harshly but correctly - ruled out for handball after he had bundled home from close range.
But Klopp's men failed to heed that warning, and surrendered two points with almost the final kick of the game as Joe Willock powered the ball home after finding space.
Reflecting on the performance, Liverpool's manager told BT Sport: "I don't think you can create much more chances, better chances than we did and not finish the game.
"Obviously we scored a wonderful goal, didn't finish the game off, and didn't play enough. With a few passes, we came always through, you just have to do it again and again.
"That they have from time to time a counterattack, that can happen, you just have to keep playing and keep the ball and let them run.
"We kept them alive and in the end they deserve the goal because they scored two minutes before another one which is - with the new rules - unlucky handball.
"Then we don't even take this present! It didn't happen a lot that we were lucky with VAR this season but we were and then we give another chance away, it makes no sense. It's really tough to take."
Klopp went on to suggest that his players were guilty of letting their heads drop too easily after missing chances to add to their lead.
He also lamented a failure to keep possession away from Newcastle in the final moments of the game.
He continued: "Why it happened, I don't know. How it looked, I saw. We just have to keep the ball.
"In the specific way, we don't fight enough. When we make a mistake, we fight and try to get it back and stuff like this, but [you need] to keep yourself in a position to dominate the game which was possible.
"We had 70% of the ball and we should have 80. There are still moments when Newcastle, they are not bothered about that and they have a counterattack in these moments and you have a goalie and you have to defend it, that's all fine.
"We created a lot of chances, didn't score with them, we have to create more and use them. In our situation, when you score with the first but not with the second or the third it has this kind of impact that you see that it drops there a little bit, here a little bit.
"Instead of just going and who cares? Missed chances are just information, nothing else. But we don't do that well in the moment, I have to say, that's why I say in the end it's deserved.
"People can look at the stats and think how can that happen? But it happened, we saw it, they fought for it and got it and we got nothing pretty much. Well, a point, but it feels like a defeat."
Liverpool would have moved up into the fourth and final Champions League spot with victory over Newcastle, but now sit in sixth ahead of many of their rivals playing.
On the prospect of qualifying for Europe's top competition, the German added: "If you deserve it, you deserve it. I didn't see today that we deserve to play Champions League next year.
"We have another five games, we will see what we can do until then, we have a few days until we play Manchester United so it will be a tough one again. But we learn, or we don't play Champions League."
Doncic backs Mbappe to turn fortunes around at Real Madrid
NBA superstar Luka Doncic has backed Kylian Mbappe to "figure it out" after his underwhelming start to life at Real Madrid.
Mbappe has scored eight goals in 16 games for Madrid in all competitions since joining as a free agent following the expiration of his Paris Saint-Germain contract.
He has gone four matches without a goal – a run that includes losses to Barcelona and Milan – and has been left out of France's latest squad.
However, Dallas Mavericks guard Doncic – a Real Madrid supporter due to his previous ties with the sports club – can see Mbappe turning things around.
"Obviously [their season] could be better," Doncic told Managing Madrid after the Mavericks' win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
"But when you get a guy like Mbappe, it takes some time to get used to it. We'll figure it out."
Mbappe has scored six goals in 11 LaLiga appearances for Madrid but has underperformed his season's expected goals (xG) total by 2.04.
The forward is averaging a goal every 166 minutes in all competitions this term, compared to one every 88 minutes for PSG in his last of seven seasons in Paris.
Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 last time out in the league to return to winning ways but still trail leaders Barcelona by six points.
Asked about his connections with Madrid, former Los Blancos basketball player Doncic said: "I follow Real Madrid every time.
"I grew up there. They taught me everything, so it's a part of my life. You can call it a secondary home.
"I learned a lot of stuff there and, especially, they gave me a way to be here right now [in Dallas]. I always appreciate that 100%."
Madrid return to action after the international break with a trip to Leganes on Sunday.
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory
Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.
Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.
The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.
Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.
Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.
Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.
Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign.
Data Debrief: Total dominance
Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.
Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.
Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10.
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
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