Luis Diaz started for Liverpool hours after his kidnapped father was released but his side lost 3-2 to Toulouse on Thursday as Brighton compounded Ajax’s misery with another defeat.
The stunning upset in France came courtesy of goals from Aron Donnum, Thijs Dallinga and Frank Magri as Liverpool sank to their first defeat in the Europa League this campaign.
However, the game was not without controversy with VAR intervening to rule out an equaliser deep in injury-time from Jarell Quansah.
“It was in our hands tonight to try and qualify, but we have to pick ourselves up and go again,” said Liverpool defender Joe Gomez after his side missed to chance to qualify for the knock-out stages.
Toulouse now sit on seven points, two behind the Premier League club and three ahead of third-placed St Gilloise in Group E.
With 36 minutes gone, Donnum pounced on Kostas Tsimikas and robbed him of possession before slotting home via a deflection to give Toulouse the lead at the break.
The buoyant hosts got a second when Dallinga took a touch in the box and drilled past Caoimhin Kelleher on 58 minutes.
An own goal from Cristian Casseres on 73 minutes gave Liverpool a lifeline but the hosts, pushed on by a vibrant home crowd, punched back immediately.
Three minutes later, Kelleher could not hold a firmly hit cross and Magri was on hand to restore Toulouse’s two-goal buffer.
Diogo Jota, on for Diaz, struck a second for Liverpool in the 89th minute.
The hosts were able to see the game out to claim a precious three points, but not before an equaliser seven minutes into injury-time by Quansah was ruled out after video review for an adjudged handball much earlier in the build-up.
In Group E’s other game, LASK beat St Gilloise 3-0 at home to earn a first win of the campaign.
Villarreal travelled to Larnaca, Cyprus to take on Maccabi Haifa with the fixture moved due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, two goals in the last 10 minutes from Alex Baena and Alexander Sorloth earned a 2-0 win for the Spaniards.
Rennes ran out 3-1 winners against Greece’s Panathinaikos, courtesy of second-half strikes from Ibrahim Salah and Ludovic Blas.
The tie was level at the break after Fotis Ioannidis’ penalty cancelled out Fabian Rieder’s ninth-minute opener.
Brighton win in Amsterdam
In Group B, Brighton took a big step towards booking their place in the knock-out stage with a comfortable 2-0 win away to Ajax.
Goals either side of the break from Ansu Fati and Simon Adingra gave the Seagulls a famous win on the home turf of European royalty.
The Premier League team now have seven points and sit three clear of AEK Athens in third place.
Fati gave Brighton the lead on 14 minutes with a low finish and then eight minutes after half-time he teed up Adingra to complete a group-stage double over the Amsterdamers.
Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen wrapped up qualification for the knock-out stages with a 1-0 win in Baku against Group H rivals Qarabag.
A Victor Boniface penalty in the fourth minute of second-half injury-time was enough to give Xabi Alonso’s side a fourth win in four matches and ensure their progress.
Slavia sack Rome
The second biggest surprise of the night came in Prague when Slavia Prague downed Jose Mourinho’s Roma 2-0 to leapfrog the Italians into first place in Group G.
“I can’t explain this. I don’t know myself,” said Mourinho. “I’ll be honest — Slavia extremely deserved to win and Roma extremely deserved to lose.”
Strikes from Vaclav Jurecka in the 50th minute and Lukas Masopust 16 minutes from time inflicted Roma’s first defeat of the campaign and moved Slavia to top spot with nine points, level with the visitors.
In the group’s other game, Swiss side Servette beat Sheriff Tiraspol 2-1 thanks to a 92nd minute penalty by Chris Bedia.
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