On Wednesday night, Liverpool briskly passed the undisciplined Atletico Madrid to an easy 2-0 victory, confirming their eligibility for the Knockout Stage of the Champions League. After Liverpool's thrilling victory in the reversal last month, Jurgen Klopp concluded that the dramatic match was "guaranteed" when his side played a tie-and-win match against Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid. He was not disappointed.
The hosts broke the deadlock in the opening quarter of an hour when Trent Alexander Arnold shot a stunningly curved ball into the box for the first time, taking a large group of blue shirts in the wrong direction, but it made Diogo Zota sit up excitedly and nod to the lead Liverpool.
It was the second time in weeks that Liverpool had taken a two-goal lead against Atletico Madrid. Sadio Maine sped across the pitch and before rushing into the penalty area, he went through a series of challenges and lowered the ball. Alexander Arnold's arrow-shaped pass through Atletico's weary backline picked up his Senegalese teammate, who doubled Liverpool's lead in the 21st minute.
At the start of another raid, Atletico centre-back Felipe blocked a counterattack in the final ten minutes of the first half. After defying referee Danny Macley's three whistles to face the referee, the Brazilian received a red card directly. Three minutes after the game restarted, Joel Matip was allowed into Atletico's half and passed for the Portuguese who were almost offside, and Liverpool wasted a series of chances in the 53rd minute as they tried to end the match with the scores of Mohammed Salah and Joel Matip.
On his return to merseyside stadium with Barcelona in 2019, Luis Suarez was once again tragically beaten by an Anfield trip after losing the match with four notable goals, as he was ruled out of offside by a skewed shot shortly before the start of the match. Content with a two-goal and one-man advantage, Liverpool have had a smooth career, with over 80 per cent possession in the final half hour but little threat to increase their scoring.