Studs from heartbreaking Liverpool Champions League loss

Liverpool crashed out of the Champions League in March.

Despite that heartbreaking loss to Atletico Madrid, there were some studs from the game. For 94 minutes, Jurgen Klopp had things under control and Liverpool were heading towards the next round of the competition.

We all know that Adrian cost us that progression, although he wasn’t the only person to blame as Diego Simeone masterminded a victory.

Simeone and Klopp are cut from the same cloth in many ways, themes which Paul Landwehr has explored for Rush The Kop before, but they were two very different men on March 11.

Gini Wijnaldum put Liverpool in the lead and it was enough to make sure the Champions League tie went to extra time, then Roberto Firmino scored the second and for a brief moment everyone was on cloud nine.

Wijnaldum was one of the studs from the game, make no doubt about that. He put in the type of all-action performance that has characterised his time at Anfield.

Five aerial duels and three tackles showed he steel, while three shots, four dribbles and 79% pass completion rate showed his flair – according to WhoScored.

For context, Wijnaldum made the fifth most tackles and aerial duels of the game, the third most dribbles and scored. It was a prime example of Gini at his influential best as he did the defensive side of the game as well as the match’s defenders and the offensive bits as well as the forwards.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain started on the right-hand side of midfield and was also excellent. He assisted Wijnaldum’s goal, passed the ball well, was a threat on goal and wasn’t afraid to try and take on Atletico.

It was all for nothing, of course, but there were plenty of good individual moments from Liverpool – even if it was a heartbreaking way to exit the Champions League.