Gary Gillespie delivers reality check following Maribor stuffing

Gary Gillespie has served up a reminder that Liverpool beat Maribor and not a European giant last night.

The former Liverpool defender, who won the European Cup with the Reds in 1984 and a trio of league titles between 1986 and 1990, praised the Reds for stuffing the Slovenian minnows but couldn’t believe how “awful” the opposition were.

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Gillespie said: “I think you go into these games and you’re a little bit apprehensive and you’re not quite sure what Maribor are going to deliver up. But they were awful. As good as Liverpool were, they were poor.

“But Liverpool played really well, not just going forward but defensively as well.

“They protected the ball, won second balls in most areas of the pitch and every time Liverpool got forward, they looked as if they were going to score and even when they didn’t look as if they were going to score, Maribor were gifting them balls in dangerous positions.”