Liverpool trailed for the fourth time in five games this season, but came back to defeat LASK 3-1 on Friday (AEST) in Linz in the Europa League.
Romelu Lukaku gave Roma a 2-1 victory against Sheriff in another early encounter in the first round of the group stage of the second-tier European competition. Roma had been eliminated from the final the previous year.
Rennes easily defeated Maccabi Haifa 3-0 in France, Bayer Leverkusen destroyed the Swedes Hacken 4-0, and Villarreal fell to Panathinakos 2-0 in Greece.
Liverpool, who was competing in the Europa League for the first time since coming in second place in 2016, started with a completely different lineup against LASK and quickly fell behind.
Florian Flecker received a corner kick from Sascha Horvath in the 14th minute, well outside the Liverpool box. The Austrian midfielder kept possession of the errant ball before blasting a shot past Liverpool goalie Caoimhin Kelleher.
After Luis Diaz was fouled in the 55th minute, Darwin Nunez converted a penalty kick to tie the score.
After 61 minutes, Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool coach, began switching out adolescents for regular starters.
When Ryan Gravenberch sprinted down the right side and crossed low for Diaz to score from close range, they were up after just two minutes.
Mohamed Salah, a substitute from the second half, added a third goal two minutes from time.
Leandro Paredes scored in Moldova’s first-half extra time to give Sheriff the lead and give Roma the lead.
Cristian Tovar of Colombia matched the score, but Romelu Lukaku earned Jose Mourinho’s team a slim victory.
Brighton’s 3-2 loss to AEK Athens also served as a sobering reminder of how challenging European football is.
Joao Pedro’s two penalties forced the Seagulls to come from behind twice before AEK’s Ezequiel Ponce scored in the 84th minute to give his team a victory at Amex Stadium.