SIMEONE IS THE ULTIMATE PARTY POOPER
He sets puzzle Reds struggle to answer
JORDAN HENDERSON had carried the ball towards Atletico Madrid’s penalty area when, mid-run, he held his arms out by his side.
It was late in the second half but Liverpool’s captain was not the first person to make that gesture. Fabinho had done it before him, so had Mohamed Salah.
You will have seen it many times — a universal signal in football, the one asking for help when time is running out.
Liverpool have been so proficient in providing answers during this thrilling campaign that Henderson’s actions struck a chord.
For once, Liverpool had been set an examination that was proving beyond them and nothing they did was making a difference.
There was a reason: Diego Pablo Simeone. El Cholo, as he is known, set a trap for Liverpool and suddenly their grip on the Champions League has been loosened.
The team who seem to have a solution for every situation were, for once, at a loss.
Watching Simeone was almost as absorbing as the game itself.
He did not celebrate when Saul Niguez pounced to score a fourthminute opener, the only member of his coaching entourage not to greet it with outstretched arms and punching of the air.
It was the only occasion, though, that he was not a cyclone of emotion. Simeone was never still, prowling like a caged tiger before bursting into sprints, waving his arms at his defence to keep their shape and hold that impenetrable red-and-white line.
Atletico are not a team to watch if you want to see football that flows beautifully, but they are engrossing and the manager, whose non-negotiable demand from his players is unyielding effort, knows his way around this kind of contest.
He had everyone in the stadium, save for those from Merseyside, on board with his plan.
The fans created an ear-splitting din, his team were immaculately drilled and even the ball boys were on the end of his exhortations.
Klopp was joking when he said on Monday that Simeone was ‘Level 12’ when it came to touchline emotion, marking himself down as ‘Level four’, but to see the two men it wasn’t that outlandish. Liverpool’s manager was almost passive in comparison.
There was a good reason. Liverpool have swept all before them this season, their march to silverware has been spectacular and largely without pain, but they were taken to places here that they had not been for months.
This was the most they had been tested since Flamengo in the Club World Cup final in December. The Brazilians set an exam Liverpool eventually passed but Atletico were on a different level.
Nobody in the Premier League has a comparable style and, while Liverpool dominated possession, they kept being taken down cul-de-sacs. Klopp, buried under his baseball cap, looked puzzled. He was puzzled as to how he could strike back. His respect for Simeone could not be higher and anyone who underestimated Atletico because of an underwhelming domestic campaign was naive.
‘A results machine,’ was Klopp’s phrase and who could argue? Two Europa Leagues, two appearances in the Champions League final, two European Super Cups, one Spanish Cup and the Liga title in 2014 have made them a continental superpower.
Yet, on a wider scale, they continue to be underestimated. What a mistake. One thing we know from this competition is that anything is possible and this occasion was made for them. How they loved it.
Liverpool are used to quietening crowds but now they were out of their comfort zone, trying to outwit players who wanted to defend as greedily as they do.
‘When the opposition sense fear, they take advantage without mercy,’ Simeone once said when attempting to explain his teams’ desire to impose themselves.
Liverpool might have arrived as the reigning champions but Atletico were anything but their inferiors. This should be kept in mind for the return leg. If there is one team left in the competition who will not be cowed by an Anfield frenzy, it is this gang of streetfighters.
If Liverpool want to get to the final in Istanbul, they need to pull out all the stops.