Liverpool's hopes of ending the season with some silverware are hanging by a thread after a 1-0 defeat in their Europa League last 16, first leg clash with Lille in France on Thursday night.
A game which look set to finish scoreless, with Liverpool having missed two excellent chances in the first half, was decided by a fortuitous strike from Eden Hazard, the Belgian midfielder's 84th-minute free-kick from wide on the left evading everybody on its way into the bottom left corner of Pepe Reina's goal.
It was harsh on Liverpool but, in the end, they were lucky to escape with just a 1-0 deficit as Pierre Aubameyang appeared certain to add a second late on but his half-volley was deflected onto the post by a terrific last-ditch challenge on Daniel Agger.
Liverpool's players arrived in France with the harsh words of manager Rafael Benitez still ringing in their ears following Monday night's dismal 1-0 defeat at Wigan. It was Lille who were the livelier in the early exchanges, with Yohan Cabaye calling Reina into action with less than 60 seconds on the clock.
However, for all Lille's endeavour and enthusiasm, it was the visitors who should have opened the scoring on 25 minutes when a sublime one-two between Babel and Torres put the latter in on goal. Unfortunately for Liverpool, Babel's low strike was blocked by the right leg of Lille keeper Mickael Landreau.
Another fine opportunity came the Reds' way just before the break. After Landreau had beaten out Steven Gerrard's free-kick, Glen Johnson swung over an inviting cross from the right. Torres met up superbly well with his head but Landreau got down brilliantly to keep the ball out.
Liverpool, who had been repeatedly opened up down their left-hand side in the first half, looked far more assured defensively in the second, restricting their hosts to nothing more than a series of speculative, long-range efforts.
However, there was to be a sting in the tail for the Reds. Just when they looked poised to claim a creditable 0-0 draw, Hazard swung the ball over from the left and neither Reina nor his defenders came to deal with it. The ball found the bottom corner and Liverpool were dumbstruck. So dumbstruck, in fact, that they nearly conceded again, only for Agger to come to the rescue with a splendidly-timed block on Aubameyang.
Liverpool did press forward in injury time and Gerrard was presented with an opening inside the box only to see his left-footed strike on goal deflected wide.
However, the subsequent corner came to nothing, thus consigning the men from Anfield to a second 1-0 away defeat in the space of three days.