Liverpool brush aside Atletico Madrid to qualify for Champions League knock-out stages

With a comfortable 2-0 victory against Atletico Madrid, Liverpool not only qualified for the knock-out stages of the Champions League, but they did it with two games to spare and, after AC Milan and Porto played out a 1-1 draw in Italy, have gone through as group winners. 

 

What this means is that with four wins out of four, for the rest of the group stages, Jurgen Klopp will be able to rest players, mix up the team, give fringe players the chance to impress and play themselves into form. 

 

Apart from an injury to Roberto Firmino – who’d come on at half-time for Sadio Mané, the Senegalese striker being targeted by the Atletico players trying to get him sent off for a second yellow – this would have been a perfect night for the Reds.

 

Starting with Kostas Tsimikas in for Andy Robertson, Joel Matip for Ibrahim Konaté, Fabinho Tavares returning for Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain keeping out Curtis Jones, Liverpool saw off a good start from the Spanish champions to go one-up after seven minutes with tidy play down the right from Mo Salah and Jordan Henderson who knocked the ball to Trent Alexander-Arnold who crossed with deadly intent for Diogo Jota to dive onto the ball from six yards out and knock it into the back of net with his head.

 

Liverpool never looked back and, after 13 minutes, a shot come cross from Alexander-Arnold was sharply latched onto in the area by the irrepressible Mané who slammed the ball into the back of the net. 

 

Immediate thoughts were that this is exactly what happened in Madrid two weeks ago, when a dominant Liverpool went up two nil only for Madrid to respond with two quick goals of their own. That game only turned back in the Reds’ favour when Antoine Griezmann was sent off for violent play, allowing Liverpool to go on and win the game with a Salah penalty.

 

This time, it was Felilpe who was dismissed, on 37 minutes, for violent play, hacking Mané as he sprinted into the Atletico half after a corner had broken down. 

 

There was confusion as to whether Dutch referee Danny Makkelie had shown red not just for the challenge but also for Felipe’s dissent – refusing to acknowledge Makkelie as he commanded him to come towards him for a dressing down; but such was the cynicism and force of the foul that a straight red for that act alone was justified.

 

In the first twenty minutes of the second half, Liverpool’s dominance was such that they appeared able to score from every advance towards the Atletico goal. Chance after chance was created. Tsimikas’ delivery was particularly threatening. Every time he was on the ball you expected something to happen, and the game only died down when Luis Suarez’ defected goal was disallowed for offside – thwarting any chance the Spanish side had of getting back into the game – and Diego Simeone decided that this wasn’t going to be his side’s night and the best thing to do would be to prevent a thrashing.

 

Defenders were sent on and Liverpool, too, took their foot off the gas, deciding that there was no need for extra exertion. Divock Origi and Taki Minamino were given a runout, and Thiago Alcantara was a welcome returnee after a month out, even if he made a bad error on the halfway line, losing the ball and allowing Herrera to go through for a shot, which he should have done better with and had he done so would’ve made for an uncomfortable last 15 minutes for the Reds. 

 

The injury to Firmino will have antagonised Klopp, but he will have been heartened by the performances of Tsimikas – whose good defensive work matched to his Alexander Arnold threat going forward must surely put pressure on Robertson – while Oxlade-Chamberlain put in a strong and purposeful performance.

 

Next up for Liverpool is a Premier League game with David Moyes’ in-form West Ham United, currently fourth in the table and flying in all the competitions they’re involved in. 

 

A good result for the Reds will mean that going into the international break, they would’ve got off to a more than promising start to the season and can look forward – despite draws not only against title rivals Manchester City and Chelsea but also against sides they would expect to be beating, i.e. Brentford and Brighton – to getting their teeth stuck into all competitions.

Liverpool come away with win from Atletico Madrid cauldron

A crazy third Champions League game for Liverpool away against Atletico Madrid saw the Reds maintain their 100 percent winning start to the campaign, defeating the Spanish champions 3-2 and, given results elsewhere in the group, putting Jurgen Klopp’s men on the verge of qualifying for the knock-out stages.

The Reds were two up after 13 minutes with goals from Mo Salah and Naby Keita. Salah went on a snaking run across the 18 yard box looking for a shooting angle and when he found one unleashing a strike that took a small deflection off Kondogbia, which was enough to wrong foot Jan Oblak in the Atletico goal, and find its way into the back of the net.

Six minutes later, a poor defensive clearance from a Trent Alexander Arnold cross fell to Keita on the edge of the area and, just like his goal against Crystal Palace earlier in the season, the Guinean connected with a looping volley that gave Oblak no chance.

A comfortable night could have been expected, but what followed was anything but.

Keita, having made a great impression with his goal, then showed why his Liverpool career has never really taken off, with some shocking defensive play, not once – when he allowed Koke to breeze past him on the goal line to cross the ball for Antoine Griezman to strike home; but twice – when he allowed Joao Felix to dance past him without significant challenge to play in Griezmann to strike underneath Alisson Becker to square the game.

At this point, Atletico were on top and Liverpool’s failings against the better teams they’ve played this season, such as Manchester City and Chelsea, where Liverpool were lucky to come away with draws, seemed to point to serious deficiencies in the Reds’ make up that might come back to haunt them as they go for the Premier League and Champions League titles.

At half-time, Klopp made the necessary change – bringing on Fabinho for Keita (whose long-term Liverpool career must now be in doubt) – and even though Atletico were still the better team, it was a catastrophic error from their goalscorer, kicking Roberto Firmino in the head as the Liverpool striker went to head the ball clear in the Liverpool third, earning Griezmann a deserved red card, that changed the game.

Liverpool retook control and had to keep their emotions in check as the referee, despite making the right decision to send Griezmann off, berated by the Atletico players and their hyper-excitable manager Diego Simeone on the touchline, looked to even things up by sending off a Liverpool player. James Milner was given a yellow card for a challenge on Kieran Trippier, which was barely a foul, which had Atletico players baying for a red.

Still, the referee showed composure when another mad Atletico moment occurred, when a hopeful up and under from Alexander Arnold bounced in the opposition area and Mario Hermosa made the lunatic decision to charge into Diego Jota – who’d come on for Sadio Mané – and give away a clear penalty. Salah cooly stepped up to send Oblak the wrong way and give Liverpool the lead again.

There was still time for more drama, when the referee awarded the Spanish side a penalty when Jose Maria Jimenez went down under the mildest of nudges from Jota. VAR advised the official to go to the pitch side monitor to take another look and, rightly, the referee determined that the contact was minor and certainly not enough for Giminez to go over in the way he did.

The referee’s change of mind deflated Atletico and Liverpool held on comfortably for the rest of the game, their win putting them on nine points, five ahead of Atletico and Porto, who beat Inter Milan 1-0 in the group’s other match.

Next up for Liverpool is an away game against arch-rivals Manchester United, who have been struggling under the stewardship of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, so the Reds will fancy their chances of coming away from Old Trafford with a victory.