Liverpool stymied by Simeone and Atletico in Madrid

Liverpool were stymied by Diego Simeone and Atletico in Madrid as Mohamed Salah had a stinker and contributed towards the Champions League loss.

Another away trip to Spain, another trip home with our tail between our legs. We just can’t win there, and when you miss chances and fail to muster a single shot on target that is always likely.

Mohamed Salah had the best of the chances for the Reds this evening at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid. There was a goal disallowed for offside midway through the first half, and a great chance from eight yards out in the second half, but the shot was headed over the bar. Offensively, that was all the Reds could show in a tightly contested defensive tussle.

Consequently Liverpool could not deliver a single shot on target. Atletico opened the scoring from a corner set piece in the 4th min when Saul Niguez found himself the recipient of a gift, as the ball clattered around the box before rolling into his path at the near post. It was an easy tap in for 1-0.

And that would be it on the night for goals, as Atletico sank back into a solid 4-5-1 defensive wall tightly compacted, relying on turnovers from errant passes in the final third to run the counter. They forced Jurgen Klopp and the lads to play largely in the middle of the park where the Atletico defense could maintain their shape, dictating tempo and eliminating passes through the channels.

Score 1 to Simeone as his plan was clearly to try and score a quick goal early. They pressed and harassed the Reds in a high press for the first 10 or 15 min. The goal gave his well drilled defensive minded squad the opportunity to sit back and let the Reds find an opening that, for the most part, just wasn’t there. He was effective in getting his men to force Liverpool into a style and pace of play that heavily favored the home side.

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Look for Liverpool to take their medicine from this loss, and move on. The return fixture in the tie will be at Anfield in three weeks time. Where Jurgen will surely have his team primed and ready as they will need to come up with a two goal margin to advance.

For all the fans who predicted a cake walk here for Liverpool…this is Champions League knockouts folks. And history tells, that league records and past form guides and such mean nothing when it comes to playing at this level.

Diego Simeone and Athletico should never ever be taken lightly especially playing at home. Even in a season such as this where they sit 3rd. in La Liga. That means absolutely nothing when it comes to this European competition.

Simeone always gets his team ready for the big games, and this was one of their biggest of the season thus far.

Once again the Reds fall to a Spanish side in Spain. If memory serves, the last time Liverpool won an away match against a Spanish side in Spain was in 2006-7 Champions League against Barca. This, is something Klopp will be sure to want to remedy as the road to Istanbul this campaign will likely run through Spain.

One idea would be to help Mohamed Salah find his shooing boots again.

Words by Paul Landwehr.