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Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Milan Pavkov scored twice in the first half to lead Red Star Belgrade to a 2-0 win against Liverpool in the Champions League group stage on Tuesday in Serbia. The striker scored in the 22nd and the 29th minutes in the second leg of the matchup. Liverpool won the first leg 4-0 on Oct. 24 at Anfield. The Reds' next Champions League clash comes against Paris Saint-Germain on Nov. 28 in Paris.
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"We were not surprised," Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp told reporters. "If you saw the first game, it was similar -- it was wild, direct, stuff like that. In Liverpool we controlled the game and tonight we didn't."
"They were aggressive, very aggressive, in all parts -- but they were aggressive in the last game as well, we only did better. We made life a bit too easy tonight for Belgrade, that's the main problem. As I said, they deserved it with the passion they fought [with]. In the end you have to score goals in a game and if you think about how often we were in the box and around, that's what you have to do in a game but you have to make the last decision in the right way and we didn't. That's why we lost 2-0."
Marko Marin assisted Pavkov's first goal. The German football star sent in a corner kick from the right side on that play. Pavkov ran in and headed the service into the near post netting, beating Reds keeper Alisson.
He scored again seven minutes later, once again using the help of Marin. That time, Pavkov received the ball on the right flank and dribbled around the field. He took a few touches before lining the ball up and firing a 25-yard strike with his right boot. The shot sailed into the far post netting, beating a diving Alisson for the final score of the match.
Red Star Belgrade's next Champions League affair is against Napoli on Nov. 28 in Naples, Italy.
