Luis Diaz courageously took the field for Liverpool shortly after his father’s release from a recent kidnapping. Despite his return, Liverpool faced a setback with a 3-2 loss to Toulouse in the Europa League group stage.
Aron Donnum, Thijs Dallinga, and Frank Magri secured Toulouse’s victory, marking Liverpool’s first defeat in the group stage. The match, however, wasn’t without controversy. Donnum capitalized on a defensive lapse by Kostas Tsimikas to give Toulouse the lead.
Toulouse, now with seven points, trails Liverpool by two and leads Group E with a three-point margin over third-placed St Gilloise. The game saw a disallowed goal for Toulouse in the second half due to a foul on Joel Matip. Despite an own goal by Cristian Casseres, Toulouse maintained a two-goal lead, securing the win.
Even though Diogo Jota scored a second for Liverpool in the 89th minute, Toulouse held on to claim three crucial points. The match ended with a controversial disallowed equalizer by Jarell Quansah in injury time after a video review detected a handball in the build-up.
Toulouse currently has a total of seven points, trailing Liverpool by a margin of two points.
Earlier on Thursday, Luis Manuel Diaz’s father, kidnapped by Colombia’s ELN guerrilla group in Barrancas, was released after 12 days.