Indeed, the defeat of Liverpool which also made them eliminated from the Champions League was hard to believe. In fact, even for neutral ball viewers (not idolizing Liverpool or Atletico Madrid) the results of the second leg at Anfield on 12th March is beyond prediction.
The main factor is because Liverpool are believed to be able to comeback at home, especially “just” losing 0-1 on aggregate. If reflecting on last season, they were able to turn things around that were even considered mission impossible — to beat Barcelona.
However, Atletico now has the mission impossible, and they can complete it with a 2-3 victory over Liverpool. Extraordinary!
It is true, soccer often shows us social reality of life. Yesterday at the bottom, now at the top, tomorrow no one knows.
The same thing happened to Liverpool. They were at the top last season. While this season they are still worth mentioning above, but not for the Champions League. Because here is an arena to prove who is the best club in Europe.
Liverpool managed to get rid of Barcelona which make the club became a favorite for champions over Ajax, and definitely over Tottenham Hotspur. That is, the Reds have received “blessing” from the public to be the champion.
Evidently, the game they put themselves as the “dominated” of the Liverpool game. Koke et al. already showed it in the first leg, even though they played at home.
The scene was repeated at Anfield, and made the public more convinced that it was Liverpool who deserved to qualify for the quarter-finals. Especially when Wijnaldum scored. Firmino also scored in extra time. Make Liverpool reverse the aggregate to 2-1.
Liverpudlian is ready to start the road to “Final” party. However, the situation became complicated when Liverpool immediately lowered the tempo, played behind and let the Atletico players who were a handful in the Liverpool defense area to open up hope.
Adrian’s passing or clearance error began. Similarly, the failure of blocking from Liverpool defender to prevent their goal from being broken.
Liverpool finally conceded an away goal by a kick outside the penalty box Marcos Llorente, 2-1. A very dangerous position, because Atletico have an away goal.
However, Liverpool are expected to be able to distance the advantage of conceding it again. Again by Llorente. Score 2-2 and make Atletico change the scenario.
Jurgen Klopp was increasingly unrealistic. Because it tends to force players starting line-up to play the maximum even though it is almost deadlocked.
Roberto Firmino is capable of scoring goals, but where is he during 90 minutes of normal time? The same goes for Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah who rarely make dangerous maneuvers and find it difficult to kick on target, especially in the second half.
It is natural to feel frustration when facing an opponent who is very focused on survival. However, this is what makes Klopp as afraid to make changes. He let his players begin to feel frustrated, not curious.
Slightly different from Diego Simeone who regularly makes changes, according to the needs of his team on the field when looking at the game situation. In fact, when Liverpool increasingly difficult to penetrate the Atletico defense, Simeone put Savic to add strength at the back.
Evidently, finally the penalty for Liverpool was present in the final round of extra time with goals from Alvaro Morata. Liverpool 2-3 Atletico.
A result that ultimately shows that Liverpool are increasingly predictable. They also have no alternative or courage to take risks by immediately playing new players and changing the way they play.
That is, Liverpool have indeed shown signs that it will be difficult to win. However, all his opponents need time. They need to wait for when Liverpool starts running out of gas.
