Uefa Champions League holders Liverpool face another first-leg deficit against Spanish visitors as Atlético Madrid once again come to Anfield defending a 1-0 lead.
Atlético’s Saúl Ñíguez scored the only goal of the first leg after four minutes at the Estadio Metropolitano, giving the Spanish side a narrow advantage to take to Anfield.
Liverpool will not need to look far for inspiration, however, with their last home Uefa Champions League knockout match ending in a memorable comeback victory against Barcelona (0-3 a, 4-0 h).
Atlético, however, have their own grounds for optimism having won their only previous knockout tie against Liverpool after a 1-0 home win in the first leg, Los Colchoneros going through after extra time in the semifinals of their victorious Uefa Europa League campaign ten years ago.
This contest brings together two sides with formidable recent knockout records in European football. Liverpool have reached the last two Uefa Champions League finals and are unbeaten in two-legged knockout ties under Jürgen Klopp; Atlético were Uefa Champions League runners-up in 2014 and 2016 and won the Uefa Europa
Read Also: EPL: Liverpool Deserve To Win The League – Pogba Admit(Opens in a new browser tab)
The first leg was the teams’ first fixture since that 2009/10 Uefa Europa League semifinal, a tie Atlético won on away goals. Diego Forlán got the only goal of the first game, Alberto Aquilani levelling the tie a minute before halftime in Liverpool.
With no further goals the match went to extra time, Yossi Benayoun putting Liverpool in front on aggregate in the 95th minute only for Forlán to supply the decisive moment seven minutes later.
Atlético went on to beat another English club, Fulham, in the final in Hamburg, Forlán getting both goals in a 2-1 win.
The sides met for the first time in the 2008/09 Uefa Champions League group stage with both games ending 1-1, Simão scoring in the 83rd minute at the Vicente Calderón after Robbie Keane had given Liverpool a 14th-minute lead. At Anfield, a Steven Gerrard penalty five minutes into added time earned the home side a point, Maxi Rodríguez having put Atlético in front in the 37th minute.
Liverpool went on to top Group D with 14 points and Atlético finished as runners-up on 12. Los Rojiblancos were knocked out by Porto on away goals in the last 16, while the Reds lost to Chelsea in the quarterfinals.
Liverpool won Group E with 13 points, one ahead of Napoli who were 2-0 victors against the holders on Matchday 1.
The Reds won their next three matches, at home against Salzburg (4-3) and away (4-1) and home (2-1) against Genk, before being held 1-1 by Napoli at Anfield on Matchday 5. A 2-0 success at Salzburg in their final fixture proved enough to secure progress in first place.
Last season, Jürgen Klopp’s team beat Bayern München 3-1 away in the second leg of their round of 16 tie, going through by the same aggregate score, before ousting Porto 6-1 over two legs in the quarterfinals (2-0 h, 4-1 a).
The journey looked to be over when the Reds went down 3-0 at Barcelona in the semifinal first leg, but two goals apiece from Georginio Wijnaldum and Divock Origi sealed a rousing second-leg turnaround, before Mohamed Salah and Origi secured the club’s sixth European Cup with a 2-0 final defeat of Tottenham at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid – Atlético’s home ground.
Those results mean Liverpool have won their last 11 two-legged European ties, qualifying included. Their last defeat was on penalties in the 2014/15 Uefa Europa League round of 32 against Besiktas (1-0 home, 0-1 away). They have not lost a two-legged knockout phase tie in the Uefa Champions League since Chelsea beat them 7-5 on aggregate in the 2008/09 quarterfinals.
The remarkable comeback win against Barcelona in 2018/19 made it four wins out of four against Spanish clubs in two-legged European Cup knockout ties for Liverpool, whose overall aggregate record in knockout ties with Liga sides is W9 L2.
The first-leg defeat at Atlético means Liverpool have won only two of their last 11 fixtures against Spanish clubs (D2 L7) – a sequence that also includes 3-1 losses under Klopp in the 2016 Uefa Europa League final to Sevilla and the 2018 Uefa Champions League final to Real Madrid.
The Merseysiders have won only six of their 18 games against Spanish visitors at Anfield (D7 L5), although they have been victorious in four of the last six.
Liverpool have won nine of their last 13 European fixtures (D2 L2).
Premier League runners-up in 2018/19, this is Liverpool’s third successive appearance in the round of 16 and eighth overall; their record is W6 L1. The sole defeat came against Benfica as holders in 2005/06.
Defeat at Atlético ended the Reds’ eight-match unbeaten run in the Uefa Champions League round of 16 (W6 D2); they had kept seven consecutive clean sheets before conceding at Bayern last season. Their previous defeat was a 1- 0 loss at home to Barcelona in the 2006/07 second leg; they won that tie on away goals having triumphed 2-1 in Spain.
Liverpool are unbeaten in 25 European home games (W18 D7), since a 3-0 loss to Real Madrid on 22 October 2014.
The Reds kept clean sheets in all three home knockout games last season and two of their three in 2017/18.
Liverpool have already claimed European silverware this term, beating Chelsea 5-4 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the Uefa Super Cup in Istanbul. They also won the Fifa Club World Cup in December, overcoming Flamengo 1-0 after extra time in the final.
Liverpool have won 14 of the 28 Uefa competition ties in which they lost the away first leg, including that success against Barcelona last season. They have emerged triumphant from nine of the 12 ties in which they lost the first leg 1-0 away, most recently against Villarreal in the 2015/16 Uefa Europa League semifinals (3-0 h), although all three aggregate defeats the Reds have suffered when losing 1-0 away in the first game have come in the last six such ties, the most recent reverse occurring against Braga in the 2010/11 Uefa Europa League round of 16 (0-0 h).
Follow us on Facebook
Post Disclaimer
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author and forum participants on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Anaedo Online or official policies of the Anaedo Online.
