In the fourth round of the Champions League group stage in the early hours of this morning, the Reds Liverpool sat at home and defeated Atletico Madrid 2-0, so far the four rounds of the group stage have been won, and they have obtained the right to qualify for the group in advance, with Jota and Mane scoring goals in the game.
If the victory over the Wanda Metropolitan in the last game was somewhat controversial and made Atletico feel very dissatisfied, then in this re-match at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool won without saying, they maintained enough aggression from beginning to end that atletico Madrid, known for their iron blood, could hardly see the possibility of winning.
They took a two-goal lead in the first 20 minutes and created multiple scoring opportunities in the ensuing games, and if luck had been a little better, if Salah's form had been a little more online, Anfield would have seen a tragedy.
After winning this game, Liverpool are unbeaten in 25 matches in all competitions and they are the only team in the five major leagues that have not lost so far.
Of course, for Liverpool, there is a special meaning of this game, that is, they finally stop fearing La Liga teams.
In the past decade, they have played 14 games against La Liga teams in European competitions, with a record of 2 wins, 3 draws and 9 defeats. Four of them lost to Real Madrid, two to Atletico, 1 to Barca, 1 to Sevilla and 1 to Villarreal. These include the Europa League final in 2016 and the Champions League final in 2018.
The two losses to Atletico took place in the 19/20 season, when the Reds rode to the top of the league and locked in the Premier League seven rounds in advance. But in the Champions League quarter-finals, they were killed by Atletico, especially in the second leg of Anfield, the Reds besieged Atletico, and once took a 2-0 lead, promotion is in sight, but goalkeeper Adrian's low-level mistakes directly buried the efforts of the whole team, and finally lost 2-3, and the two-legged aggregate score was eliminated 2-4.
It is worth mentioning that the loss of that game is also the only time since Klopp took charge of the Reds that the team has lost at home in the Champions League, and the way of losing is extremely regrettable and humiliating, which makes many Reds fans grumble.
This time, they defeated Atletico in both legs of the showdown, and it was also a very happy revenge.
In addition to saying goodbye to La Liga phobia, the Reds fans are most excited about the recovery of the team 'Prince' Arnold, a native of Liverpool who is expected to become the next Gerrard. At the tactical level, Arnold is also the engine of the team, and his and Robertson's left and right bows are the team's offensive weapons, especially Arnold's pass, which is the favorite of Salah, Mane and Firmino Trident.
Last season, the team's large number of injuries not only affected the team's performance, but also weakened Arnold's role, leaving him with considerable doubts.
But in this game, the key to the team's victory was Arnold, and both goals came from his precise guidance on the right side, without dragging the mud and water, directly to the mouth of his teammates, easily tearing up Atletico's steel defense.
So far this season, Alexander-Arnold has delivered five assists in all competitions, and his recovery will directly improve the quality of the Reds' attack, leading the Reds to a strong impact on the Premier League and Champions League titles, and he himself is expected to achieve assists in double figures as he did a season ago.