Iraola singles out Nyoni, Jacquet and Mac Allister after set-piece collapse ends Liverpool's Champions League unbeaten run

Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the Champions League campaign ended in a 3-2 defeat away to Fenerbahce in Istanbul, with manager Andoni Iraola singling out Trey Nyoni, Jeremy Jacquet and Alexis Mac Allister for their failure to deal with the header that settled the contest.

The Reds led twice — Nyoni opened the scoring before Mason Greenwood levelled for the hosts, and substitute Alexander Isak restored Liverpool’s advantage early in the second half. But Archie Brown and Vedat Muriqi struck to complete a comeback that left Iraola visibly frustrated, particularly given that all three Fenerbahce goals came from set pieces.

Muriqi’s winner was the moment that drew the sharpest criticism from the Liverpool boss. “The wall, I don’t think we set it properly, and the last one Muriqi jumps and wins the ball against three of our defenders — it’s something that definitely we have to defend better,” Iraola said after the match. Those three defenders were identified as Nyoni, Jacquet and Mac Allister, whom Muriqi outmuscled before heading Brown’s lofted cross into the bottom-left corner.

Iraola had made five changes to the side beaten 1-0 by Arsenal at home the previous Sunday, and defended his rotation policy as a necessity given Liverpool’s congested schedule. “We’ve been changing at least four, five, six, seven players. Because of the schedule that we have, it’s impossible to maintain with always the same starting XI,” he said. “I trust the squad to sustain the level. I don’t think it was the main reason why we lost.”

The Spaniard was keen to redirect attention towards the manner in which his side conceded rather than the personnel decisions themselves. “We have to look more at how we conceded the goals and the reason why we didn’t win, because after I think we had good moments, especially on the ball where we could score our two goals.”

The defeat leaves Liverpool with back-to-back losses heading into a Premier League trip to Crystal Palace, a run of form that will sharpen scrutiny on Iraola’s defensive organisation ahead of a demanding stretch of fixtures.