„Liverpool“ strategist Brendan Rodgers admitted that he felt very sorry for defender Dejan Lovren after his missed penalty led to the team's defeat against Istanbul's "Besiktas" and their elimination from the UEFA Europa League.
In the first match at "Anfield" the English team had won 1-0, but in Turkey after 90 minutes Tolgay Arslan's goal brought "Besiktas" level with the same result.
During extra time neither team was able to score and it came down to a penalty shootout. The only player to miss in the shootout was Lovren.
"We are very disappointed to go out like that. In the first half we created a lot of chances and made their lives difficult," said Rodgers.
"I feel for Dejan, because he had a really good game. However, someone has to miss and unfortunately it was us," he added.
"Dejan was eager to take the penalty, all five of our players had confidence. The first four in the season had already lost one shoot-out, but still believed in victory. It's a shame it ended like this," Rodgers continued.
"Throughout the game we defended very well and did not allow them many chances, but we were punished for the only mistake," he concluded.
