Diogo Jota just showed Champions League reality as Jürgen Klopp has Liverpool transfer dilemma

ST MARY’S STADIUM, SOUTHAMPTON // As soon as it became clear that the Champions League was beyond Liverpool for this season, the final game became a chance to give Roberto Firmino and James Milner the send-off they deserved.

That happened in terms of the reception that each received, but the result on the pitch was one that summed up the season. Liverpool were good going forward but fragile at the back, drawing 4-4 in a hectic fixture.

Diogo Jota netted two and Firmino got a goal, producing a trademark finish after a couple of dummies inside the penalty created a yard of space, but the three points could not be earned against an already-relegated Southampton.

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Here are the three moments Liverpool.com picked out from the Reds’ high-scoring tie that drew an end to another Premier League season.

The Good

Diogo Jota scored twice and even though the first one — an open goal after a Roméo Lavia howler — could have been scored by anyone, it was the Portugal forward who was in the right place at the right time.

Luis Díaz missed a huge chunk of this season but losing Jota as well as the Colombian — and at the same time — made a massive difference for Liverpool.

How different could things have been had Klopp had a huge goal threat to call upon? Jota’s knack of scoring openers is a huge asset while he could have outscored some of the defensive issues that Liverpool suffered with at times.

Before his injury, he was not in great form and even went a year without a goal, but that drought would have ended sooner had he not missed so much football.

Even just a single goal could have made the top-four race that bit more interesting and at least taken it down to the final day, putting more pressure on Manchester United and Newcastle.

Jota got seven goals and eight assists this season, but only made 28 appearances. He missed 22 matches through injury.

Ultimately, that is just one of the many minor details that stopped Liverpool from making the Champions League this season. While the Reds got what they deserved in terms of a finishing position, the reality is that only one thing needed to go differently and they could have squeezed into fourth and got away with it.

Even with the unfortunate absences of Jota, Díaz and others, Klopp’s men should still have had enough, but in the end, they didn’t.

The Bad

Liverpool has to sort out its midfield this summer, but that is hardly news. Fabinho was back to looking shaky again here and the Reds did not have the same level of control as they have become used to.

It feels likely that adding a couple of first-choice midfielders to play alongside Fabinho could continue to coax more from the Brazilian again in the holding role, especially with support from the inverted Trent Alexander-Arnold.

But then there are games like these where he looks exposed again and that logic can be questioned. That means that Liverpool has a decision to make this summer, though Stefan Bajčetić is also there and can help.

The dilemma is whether a player to come in and play the holding position is required, or whether Fabinho will have enough to get through until Bajčetić is ready for a starring role.

Whatever the decision, it will be vital to shaping the outcome of next season.

The Ugly

So often, Liverpool’s defensive play was terrifyingly poor. Joe Gomez started below par and got worse, while Joël Matip was not exactly on fire alongside him.

In front of them, Fabinho offered little in the way of cover and while Liverpool had nothing to play for, these are recurring issues that have been put behind the Reds in recent times, but were very much there during the period that cost them a place in the top four.

The ease with which Southampton strode through and easily created clear-cut chances was alarming and Klopp rightly did not look happy on the sidelines. Kamaldeen Sulemana was made to look like Lionel Messi.

Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk were not there today and the goalkeeper would have saved at least one or two of the goals that Caoimhín Kelleher conceded, but the problem of being carved apart is nothing new.

Liverpool will sign at least a couple of midfield players this summer and that will help, but a new defender is a must as well as Klopp looks to get the squad that he needs to compete again.