Liverpool left the European Cup in the first round for the second successive season after losing 3–0 to Dinamo Tbilisi on 3 October 1979. The Soviet champions scored all their goals after half-time, overturning Liverpool's 2–1 Anfield victory to advance 4–2 on aggregate.
Liverpool preserved their lead through the opening 45 minutes in Georgia. Midfield possession slowed the game, while Ray Clemence saved from Vladimir Gutsaev and turned aside a Manuchar Machaidze free-kick.
Colin Irwin was playing at left-back for the injured Alan Kennedy. After the interval, Dinamo broke through.
David Kipiani created the opening goal from the right, delivering the ball across goal for Gutsaev to score. The aggregate scores were level, with Dinamo ahead on away goals. Liverpool now needed a goal of their own.
Instead, Ramaz Shengelia scored the second with about a quarter of an hour remaining. Dinamo then gained a penalty when Phil Thompson brought down Gutsaev. Aleksandr Chivadze converted, sending Clemence the wrong way, and Liverpool could find no response.
The contemporary reports by David Lacey in the Guardian and Nick Hilton in the Liverpool Daily Post both singled out Kipiani's influence on Dinamo's victory.
Nottingham Forest had eliminated Liverpool at the same stage a year earlier. This time they had travelled with a lead, only to lose it in a second half that ended their European season.