At least Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp and his team of champions know the drill. Another epic European night at Anfield is required.
It will not be a challenge as mountainous as the one they faced against Barcelona in last season’s semi-final.
It will not take a performance as remarkable as the 4-0 number they produced against Lionel Messi and company
But make no mistake, against a team as streetwise, defensively organised and dastardly as Diego Simeone’s Atletico, it will still require a stirring effort to overturn this slender defeat and progress to the quarter-finals.
And it will require a huge improvement on this oddly below-par performance.
Consider this. Liverpool did not have an attempt on target. That is like Rory McIlroy going 18 holes without a birdie.
(Image: REUTERS)
The last time Liverpool were here, they burst out of the blocks, Mohamed Salah’s penalty setting their course to final glory.
This time around, they were left in them, seemingly taken a little aback by Atletico’s early intensity.
That would certainly explain the bizarre sight of Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold looking anything but accomplished in the first half exchanges.
It would be harsh to apportion individual blame for the opener but although the corner-kick delivery from Koke was adequate, it should have been dealt with.
Instead, it was allowed to drop to the ground and ended life as a gift accepted by the right boot of Saul Niguez from inside the six-yard box.
(Image: Getty Images)
For such a defensive powerhouse to be so easy burgled was slightly mystifying, just as it was startling to see Van Dijk’s misjudged header give Alvaro Morata the chance to shoot straight at Alisson.
And when Alexander-Arnold sent a couple of crosses into the ultras, it was obvious Liverpool had not hit the ground running. One positive, though, was that they were always going to have plenty of the ball to try to find their rhythm at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
The Atletico bus had earlier emerged from a spectacular tunnel of red pyrotechnics and was then parked somewhere deep inside the team’s own half.
Flares before kick-off, little flair after it.
Simply not too fussed with possession, it became a defensive exercise and, unsurprisingly, a masterclass in some of the dark arts.
(Image: REUTERS)
Taking their lead from Diego Simeone’s demonic technical area antics, referee Szymon Marciniak was rarely given a moment’s peace.
But Liverpool were as frustrated with their own unusual sloppiness as they were with some of the Atletico injury-feigning, play-acting, time-wasting shenanigans.
Maybe that is why Sadio Mane found himself in Marciniak’s notebook after a tussle with Sime Vrsaljko and found himself hooked at half-time.
While Atletico’s chicanery came as no surprise whatsoever, Liverpool’s sluggishness and laboured efforts did.
Klopp’s half-time change – putting on Divock Origi in place of Mane – and team-talk sharpened things up a little and Salah sent a glorious headed chance wide soon after the interval.
But clear opportunities of that ilk were relatively scarce despite Klopp’s side having a virtual monopoly on the ball.
And had Morata not managed a pantomime slip rather than a routine finish from a rare ho me counter-attack, it could have become particularly grim for Liverpool.
While they were thankful for Morata’s slip, they never looked like capitalising on his moment of profligacy and that Salah joined Mane in being replaced told you a lot of what you needed to know about proceedings.
Although not as much told by one of the Polish referee’s final acts – a 30-yard dash to flourish a yellow card in the face of a dissenting Liverpool manager.
It was that sort of night for Klopp and the champions.
