Liverpool set to lose duo matching Lionel Messi as double exit could influence transfer need

Roberto Firmino and James Milner have a Champions League record few players beyond Lionel Messi can match, and with the pair moving on, Liverpool need a plan.

Liverpool’s 2022/23 Champions League campaign acts as a handy microcosm of its season as a whole. There was a massive victory in which they scored seven goals, a last-minute winner at Anfield and a desperately poor performance away from home.

The latter of that trio was the 4-1 loss at Napoli, though some would argue the 1-0 defeat by Real Madrid was little better, in the sense that the Reds needed three goals yet rarely looked like scoring once. With their participation in next season’s competition gravely in doubt, the game at the Santiago Bernabéu could prove the final curtain to the remarkable half-decade Liverpool has enjoyed in Europe.

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Let’s assume for the sake of argument the Reds finish below fourth in May. Players such as Joël Matip and Jordan Henderson, who were part of Jürgen Klopp’s squad when their Champions League odyssey began, may never represent Liverpool at the top table of European football again. The same is likely true for James Milner, and it definitely is for Roberto Firmino as he is leaving the club no matter what in the summer.

The Reds’ number nine has arguably been the ultimate Klopp player, making the most appearances of anyone across the German’s 22-year managerial career. Firmino also scored Liverpool’s first Klopp goal in the Champions League proper, equalising in a 2-2 draw against Sevilla. There is nobody more entwined with the last six seasons of European football and the Reds.

Firmino has scored European winners against Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, bagged a brace in the semi-finals and opened the scoring in a tight knockout tie against Inter Milan last season. But as fantastic as these moments were, Liverpool don’t exactly lack for goal scorers at present, with three exciting forwards signed in the last 18 months. When it comes to Champions League assists, the Reds may now have more of an issue.