Liverpool's tragically uninspiring run of form and standard of performance continued on a freezing cold Wednesday evening in Bulgaria as they succumbed to a 2-2 draw away at Ludogorets Razgrad in the Champions League.
The glorius run of form which culminated in a 2013/14 Premier League title charge seems to have left the club with Luis Suarez' departure, and is yet to be replaced in any manner. The Reds are now without a win from their last five competitive fixtures after another disappointing display.
Travelling to the Bulgarian capital of Sofia may have seemed the group's "easiest away tie on paper, especially considering that the Vasil Levski National Stadium isn't the home ground of Ludogorets either. But, as Basel, who lost 1-0 in Sofia, and Real Madrid, who stumbled and stuttered and eventually staggered to a 2-1 victory both know, the task is much greater than anyone has predicted.
Ludogorets had started brightly against both Basel and Madrid, so clearly Liverpool had to be prepared for a battle from the off. But frankly, they weren't.
It took just 3 minutes for the red men from Merseyside to fall behind. Kolo Toure slid on the edge of his area to intercept a misplaced pass, but his attempted clearance fell kindly for Brazilian Marcelinho. 30 odd yards out from Simon Mignolet's goal, he launched a low flying shot, which bounced off of the turf towards Mignolet. The Belgian flapped at the ball, and palmed it straight into the path of Dani Abalo, who proceeded to roll it home, and put his side in the ascendancy from the off.
However, Rodgers' side responded quickly. Raheem Sterling looked lively, lining up a strike which was blocked by one of the many green bodies surrounding the Ludogorets area. But eight minutes in, it was all level, courtesy of some catastrophic defending from local hero Cosmin Moti. Hesititating to react to a lofted ball into the penalty area cost his side in this instance, as Rickie Lambert pounced to score his first Champions League goal, on his full debut in the competition.
That made it 1-1, and for the next half an hour, the game became an end-to-end thriller. Ludogorets attacked and shot through Yordan Minev, Fabio Espinho and then a Toure miscue, but all attempts were either stopped by Mignolet, or drifted wide. Liverpool seemed unable to assert themselves on the game, especially in terms of possession. Captain Steven Gerrard, once the side's mainstay, looked incresingly poor despite his best efforts, and in the half an hour spell they had just a Rickie Lambert header to show for their efforts.
Suddenly, however, the tables turned. Raheem Sterling, deployed as a striker by Rodgers, found Jordan Henderson's lung-bursting back post run with a precise pass, and the English midfielder made no mistake with the finish to give Liverpool the lead for the first time of the night in the 37th minute. For the next 10 minutes, until the half time break, the Reds were well on top, and although they were fortunate to be leading, they would accept any form of luck a this stage of the season.
The second half began in the same vein as most of the first had been played, in an lively manner with both sides threatening, There were plenty of chances, but there seemed to be a serious lack of end product.
Raheem Sterling had picked up several knocks, but was still toying with the Ludogorets defence time and time again. The 19-year-old rekindled his early season form as he worked relentlessly to create opportunities and space for himself, but each time the final pass or shot failed to shake Stoyanov's net. Just before his eventual replacement, however, Sterling wasted a glorious opportunity to seal the points, failing to beat the keeper after a neat through ball from Gerrard set him one-on-one, but he fluffed his lines.
Ludogorets rang out the changes, bringing on three fresh pairs of legs, while Rodgers opted to replace the industrious yet hobbling Sterling with Alberto Moreno in the 81st minute, as the visitors looked to escape the icy Sofia landscape with all three points, despite the relentless pressure from the hosts.
And with only minutes left for the Reds to take the points back to Merseysde, they fell victim to awful set piece defending one again in the 88th minute. A near post flick on was met at the back post by Ludogorets' Georgi Terziev, and he powered his header home to secure a share of the spoils.
The referee soon proceeded to blow the full time whistle, and although everything seemed dull and depressing around Bulgaria, news soon reached the ground that Real Madrid had beaten Basel on a 1-0 scoreline. For Ludogorets, the dream is now officially over, and they have done themselves extremely proud even though they leave the competition.
But for Liverpool, the clash with Basel on Tuesday 9th December is a must-win clash. Win against the Swiss side, and they would progress to the Last 16 stage of Europe''s most prestigious competition. Lose, and if Brendan Rodgers is still at the club, one may not be far wrong in thinking that his time is without doubt up.