Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the United States ended in a 2-1 International Champions Cup defeat to Roma.
The Serie A side won it thanks to goals from Edin Dzeko and Mohamed Salah either side of Sheyi Ojo’s equaliser in St Louis.
Juergen Klopp named a strong side, with starts for Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum and Daniel Sturridge, but it was Roma that started better.
Former Manchester City striker Dzeko had already missed two good chances when he fired into the bottom corner after a fine turn just before the half-hour mark.
The Reds were level before the break, though, when Ojo headed home from James Milner’s corner.
But the decisive moment came just after the hour when Salah restored Roma’s lead as he poked home after Simon Mignolet had saved Dzeko’s header.
Liverpool were unable to get back into the game and suffered just their second defeat of pre-season as they return home to play Barcelona at Wembley Stadium, on Saturday.
The Reds lost Alberto Moreno late on to an injury, but Klopp has allayed fears of a lengthy lay-off.
He told the club’s official website: “He is okay, it’s dead leg in the hamstring. He couldn’t activate the muscle so you cannot play. That’s how it is.”
In his aftermatch comments, Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said his side could do better than they’ve shown in pre-season so far.
“There were a lot of situations in advanced positions where both teams could have scored more goals in the first half,” Spalletti told reporters.
“In my opinion we didn’t have enough energy because we could have moved the ball better.
“When you play against a club like Liverpool, if you don’t handle possession well they can obviously create problems for you.
“So, we could have done some things better, but I have to say there were other things that were done well.”
This summer, Miralem Pjanic left Roma to join rivals Juventus but Spalletti can rely on Dutchman Kevin Strootman who is back after two years of knee problems.
“I’m very happy that he’s started to play,” Spalletti added.
“I can see he’s doing very well and he’ll also improve as his confidence grows.
“This was a friendly, but the Serie A and Champions League are another thing. We’re in pre-season, we can improve.”