WANDA METROPOLITANO — A pulsating, gloriously manic Champions League match that can be broadly viewed through the prism of one player on either team, neither of whom made it beyond the 60-minute mark. Liverpool and Atletico Madrid may well finish in the top two positions in Group B, rendering this fixture memorable only for reasons of entertainment. If that’s true, it offered plenty enough to stick in the mind. And Liverpool march on.
Perhaps the problem is that reputations stick. Under Diego Simeone, Atletico Madrid established themselves as the masters of the dark arts, the team that celebrated headed clearances and blocked shots as if welcoming the birth of a new child into the family. Suddenly you’re 2-0 up and wondering when Simeone lost his organisational skill. Suddenly you’re being run ragged by two nippy forwards who make your high defensive line and lack of true holding midfielder look foolish. This is still Atletico; just not as you knew them.
More than anything else, this was wonderful Champions League fare. Liverpool’s supporters, high up in the Wanda Metropolitano, thrashed with joy to mark both of their early goals. Each time, the home crowd chanted “Atleti, Atleti, Atleti” in response, a mantra to urge their team to press on. Press on they did. The first half squeezed enough mania to spread over both fixtures, played out in double speed as Jurgen Klopp and Simeone screamed at their midfields to try and control the tempo.
And the Metropolitano is a wonderful stadium, albeit one thrust onto the outskirts of Madrid. It is evidently very new, with a new Metro station and a row of bars, stalls and club shops to pry money from the hands of the football tourists who now flock here. But behind the comfy seats and pre-match LED lights show lies a raw concrete structure that gives the stadium an anachronistic feel and allows the noise to bounce off the walls. The only moment when that wasn’t appreciated was during the visceral whistling of Liverpool’s players taking the knee.
Liverpool’s most influential player – for reasons good and bad – was Naby Keita. It’s hard to believe that Keita was signed by Liverpool more than four years ago; first came the 12-month delay in arrival and since came persistent injuries and extended spells on the bench. And Keita remains a baffling player to figure out, a midfielder who promises to have all the drive and energy Klopp could want but who lacks the physicality and positional discipline to play in a midfield without Fabinho.
Keita is not without talent – his volley for Liverpool’s second goal was exquisite – but when Liverpool’s front three is this prolific they would be better served by midfield solidity than suave. The first half saw him caught too high up the pitch, leaving Jordan Henderson covering his position and therefore unable to cover for Trent Alexander-Arnold. Having led 2-0, Liverpool were ragged by half-time.
Enter the other game-changer, again for better and worse. Antoine Griezmann was not always unhappy at Barcelona but an apparent dream move soured quicker than milk left out in the sun. There can be no more appropriate manifestation of Barcelona’s ills than them paying €120m for their rival’s best attacking player, watch that rival win the league title ahead of them and then loan said player back to them.
To the surprise of nobody, Griezmann looks instantly revitalised back at Atleti. There was surprise amongst assembled media – and Klopp – when Luis Suarez was omitted from Simeone’s starting team, but Griezmann and Joao Felix dovetail beautifully. Atleti’s second goal, created by Felix and finished by Griezmann, was balletic in its grace and beauty.
And then he left us early too. There can be no fair accusation of malice on Griezmann’s part, but intention is not required for a red card to be issued. And when you kick an opponent – who is not ducking – in the ear then you run the risk of serious punishment. The Metropolitano howled with derision as Simeone gave off the impression of a man painfully turning into a werewolf.
Keita’s substitution enabled Liverpool to put up their umbrella in the storm; Griezmann’s dismissal allowed them to win the match. Even then it came in vaguel farcical circumstances, Mohamed Salah scoring a penalty and then Atletico awarded another two minutes later, only to lose it through VAR’s introduction.
Klopp may have quieter evenings between now and May, when his heart rate need not peak quite so high and his team avoids the pitfalls that mayhem guarantees. But he will be delighted that chaos landed Liverpool’s way this time. With three matches still to go in Group B, Klopp and Liverpool have a surprisingly firm grip on first place. Now for the biggest away game of their season. A little more control and a little less chaos, please. But the same result will do.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3pj8llO
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