Atle tough nut to crack
Liverpool lean on the legend of Anfield to overturn Madrid but this time it’s different
AFTER their first defeat of any real significance for five months, the reigning champions of Europe can at least take solace from recent history. Liverpool are no strangers to disappointing performances away from home in this competition.
They lost all three of their group stage away games on their way to winning last season’s Champions League.
Napoli were one of their conquerors then and they beat them again back in September.
And, of course, there is the 3-0 defeat at the Nou Camp to consider.
That will be the parallel that many draw on when Atletico Madrid arrive on Merseyside defending a hard-earned one-goal lead next month, hopeful of reaching this year’s quarterfinals but also wary of what could happen.
The legend of Anfield can be exaggerated sometimes. It is easily mocked and parodied. It even lost some of its potency at the start of the last decade.
Yet over the past few years, the myth has felt more like a reality, and never more so than with that beating of Barcelona last season.
The 4-0 scoreline not only a complete turnaround but total victory too, to the point where, when playing football together, Messi’s young son now tells his dad: “I’m Liverpool, you’re Barcelona.”
That night has contributed more than any other to the sense that, under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool are never more dangerous than when they have a mountain to climb.
But conversely, Atletico are never more dangerous than when they have the higher ground and that is exactly where they find themselves after yesterday’s first leg at the Wanda Metropolitano.
It was a tight game, yes, but one which was played entirely on Atletico’s terms because of Saul Niguez’s fourth-minute opener.
Succumbing to that opening spell of Atletico pressure and surrendering parity so early on could end up being Liverpool’s only mistake across the 180 minutes and more of this tie, and yet it could still prove decisive.
From Saul’s goal onwards, the game was quintessential Diego Simeone: shape, structure and strength in unity.
Liverpool had no convincing answers to the questions posed by Atletico’s low block and defensive organisation.
Klopp’s players may have dominated possession, finishing with nearly a threequarter share of the ball, but they managed no shots on target while Atletico’s incisive counterattacking would have put them clearly ahead on another night.
“There are nights that are not forgotten and this is one of them,” a delighted Simeone said.
“The best team in the world came here, a team that doesn’t lose any games, and we beat them.”
Another 90 minutes like that in the second leg and he knows they will reach the last eight. He will know, too, that Anfield presents its own challenges.
He claimed not to be thinking about that game yet on Tuesday night but he must already be considering it and must also be confident of not falling into familiar traps. – The Independent