27 min: Jan Oblak fires a clearance straight to Mo Salah, who is caught by surprise and miscontrols the ball into the path of Roberto Firmino up ahead of him. He passes back to Salah, who fires into the gaping goal, but Firmino was offside upon receiving the ball. A let-off for Atletico.
25 min: Thomas Lemar relieves Alexander-Arnold and gallops down the left flank, before sending in a cross. Virgil van Dijk misjudges the flight of the ball, which comes to Alvaro Morata. He brings a decent save out of Alisson at his near post from a tight angle. That was a very good chance for Atletico to double their lead.
24 min: A Morata barge on Fabinho wins Liverpool a free-kick wide on the right. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s delivery is atrocious, failing to beat the first man. I think he might have put his boots on the wrong feet tonight – this is not like him at all.
23 min: Lodi appears to handle the ball just outside his own penalty area, but gets away with it. Atletico win a throw-in deep in their own territory, down near the corner flag.
22 min: Nothing comes of Atletico’s second corner, Alisson ending up with the ball safely in his grasp.
20 min: Excellent defending from Robertson, who – facing his own goal – hooks a whipped Lodi cross out of play for a corner while facing his own goal, with Atletico’s strikers either side of him.
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18 min: Atletico get a chance to clear their lines as they win a goal kick. Jan Oblak kicks it long and Virgil van Dijk wins the header.
17 min: Liverpool continue to apply pressure, while Atletico have 11 men behind the ball in and around their own penalty area. A cross in to that penalty area from Andy Robertson is headed clear by Renan Lodi, the left-back.
15 min: Having taken an early lead, Atletico seem content to sit back and let Liverpool have the ball, restricting them to sending crosses in from the flanks.
15 min: Robertson gets on the ball out on the left, but his attempted pass to Gini Wijnaldum is cut out by Koke.
14 min: Another high “shot” over the bar from Trent Alexander-Arnold, who I think was trying to send a cross in from the right.
12 min: Stefan Savic heads the ball clear of his own penalty area, intercepting a Mo Salah cross. After a shaky start, Liverpool are starting to find their groove.
11 min: Teed up by Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold shoots high over the bar from about 25 yards out.
9 min: On the touchline, Diego Simeone, dressed from head to toe in trademark black, is ushered back to his technical area by the fourth official after wandering downfield to roar instructions at his strikers.
7 min: Niguez picks out Angel Correa with a free-kick from deep. Darting between two defenders, the striker latches on to the ball and squares the ball across the face of the Liverpool goal. There’s nobody on hand to convert and Correa was offside anyway. Liverpool are asleep. That’s twice they’ve been caught napping inside the opening 10 minutes.
5 min: THere’s a lengthy VAR check for offside but the goal stands. The corner came in from the right, the ball seemed to clank off the shins of Fabinho standing near the six-yard box and roll towards Liverpool’s goal. Niguez was quickest to react, pouncing on the loose ball to fire past Alisson into the bottom left-hand corner from two or three yards out.
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GOAL! Atletico Madrid 1-0 Liverpool (Niguez 4)
Atletico go ahead! Saul Niguez stabs home from two yards out to put the home side a goal up.
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3 min: Renan Lodi beats Trent Alexander-Arnold on the left flank with a drop of the shoulder and whips a terrific cross into the Liverpool penalty area. Morata gets a touch and the ball goes out for a corner.
2 min: The Wanda Metropolitano is a real cauldron as Virgil van Dijk tries to pick out Trent Alexander-Arnold with a long diagonal from the back. His pass is wayward and the ball is shepherded out of play for a goal kick.
Atletico Madrid v Liverpool is go …
1 min: Liverpool get the ball rolling, their players kitted out in charcoal grey shirts, shorts and socks. Atletico’s wear their usual home kit of red and white stripes, blue shorts and red socks.
Not long now: The teams make their way out of the tunnel on to the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, led by referee Szymon Marciniak and his team of match officials. They line up for the last of the pre-match niceties – a blast of the Champions League anthem and some handshakes – and kick-off is just a minute away.
Jurgen Klopp speaks: “A big fight,” says Liverpool’s manager, when asked what he’s expecting tonight, by BT Sport’s debonair and dishy pitch side reporter, Des Kelly. “I don’t think anyone ever played Atleti and expected to get anything out of the game without a big fight. It’s in their DNA, but it’s in also our DNA. They’re really strong, we know that, but we’ve showed that we’re not too bad at that either.”
Atletico Madrid v Liverpool line-ups
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Vrsaljko, Felipe, Savic, Renan Lodi, Saul, Koke, Thomas, Lemar, Morata, Correa.
Subs: Adan, Gimenez, Llorente, Costa, Vitolo, Carrasco, Hermoso.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson, Henderson, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Subs: Milner, Keita, Adrian, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Minamino, Origi, Matip.
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Not much in the way of surprises in Liverpool’s line-up
I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn when I say Jurgen Klopp has selected the team most Liverpool fans were expecting.
Lend us your ears …
Jonathan Wilson, Flo Lloyd-Hughes and yours truly were in the studio alongside host Max Rushden for yesterday’s episode of our Football Weekly podcast, while David Conn, Sid Lowe, Archie Rhind-Tutt and Nicky Bandini contributed from further afield. You can listen here and if you’re not already a subscriber, sign up in all the usual podcast places.
Diego Simeone speaks …
“As you know, we deal with things one game at a time here,” said Atletico’s manager. “We will cross each bridge when we get there. We are facing a magnificent team, well trained by a coach with a difference. He can play counter, possession, they are strong in the air. I have no doubt this Liverpool side will go down in history as a great team. They are different to teams we have admired in the past. They are intense, adaptable.
Jurgen Klopp speaks …
“This is one of the most difficult fixtures in the life of a football player,” said Liverpool’s manager during yesterday’s pre-match press duties. “Atlético are a really well organised, well-oiled machine who are amazing at squeezing results. They are in a transition period, that’s normal, but they are fighting with all they have. It’s really difficult.
“If there’s one team where you have to be at your absolute best, it’s Atlético. They give you absolutely no presents. If you work as hard as possible, you have a chance. If you don’t do that, you have no chance.”
An audience with Saul Niguez
“We know how we can hurt Liverpool, their strengths and weaknesses, and we always compete against big teams,” said Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez, in a wide-ranging interview with Sid Lowe.
Atlético tackle Liverpool in battle of opposite
Diego Simeone approaches this week’s tie against a Liverpool team whose high-tempo pressing style has come to define the modern age finding his methods being seriously questioned for the first time, writes Jonathan Wilson …
Early team news …
Having been on the TOttenham HOtspur side that lost in last season’s final against Liverpool, Kieran Trippier will have to make do with a view from the sidelines as he is currently recovering from groin surgery. The right-back was in St George’s Park undergoing rehab last week, but this game has come too soon for him.
Atlético will also be without their £113m summer signing Joao Felix, who has recovered from a muscle injury but has now been struck down by a virus affecting his tonsils. Hector Herrera is also expected to miss out, while Alvaro Morata and Diego Costa will be assessed ahead of today’s game.
Liverpool, by contrast, have practically a full squad to choose from, with Nathaniel Clyne and Xherdan Shaqiri constituting the entirety of their list of lame and halt. Their absence will be of little or no concern to Jurgen Klopp, who almost certainly wouldn’t have considered either player for selection had they been fit.
Champions League Round of 16 first leg: Atlético Madrid v Liverpool
With the Premier League as good is in the bag, not that anyone at the club is prepared to admit it, Liverpool are more or less free to focus on retaining the Champions League title they won at the Wanda Metropolitano last season.
They return to the scene of their sixth European triumph to face an Atlético Madrid side that are not in the best of form, fourth in La Liga with just one win in their past seven games in all competitions. Diego Simeone’s side are no mugs, however, and will be hoping to Liverpool’s first defeat in 11 knockout ties under Jürgen Klopp. Kick-off is at 8pm (GMT) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
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