Liverpool 2-3 Atletico Madrid (2-4 agg): Reds player ratings as their Champions League journey comes to an end
Liverpool's journey in the Champions League came to an end at Anfield- a place where history was created last season as they ousted Barcelona to make it to the final of the same competition.
Atletico Madrid might just have taken revenge for their La Liga rivals last night as they beat the holders in the second leg of their Round of 16 fixture to knock them out of the competition.
It took 120 minutes of footballing action to decide the more worthy winner as Georginio Wijnaldum's 43rd-minute goal tied the fixture on aggregate and it remained the same until the final whistle of normal time.
Just a few minutes into extra-time, Roberto Firmino made it 2-0 for the hosts and the game seemed over for Los Rojiblancos. However, the visitors had different plans as they went all-out attack from the moment the game was resumed after the hosts' second goal.
The comeback started with a grave mistake from Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian, who misplaced a pass straight into the feet of Joao Felix, who then squared it to Marcos Llorente to finish it into the back of the net.
Atletico's second goal came just on the brink of the first half of extra-time and originated from a failed Liverpool attack, which the Madrid giants took advantage of. The visitors simply countered and it wasn't long before Llorente scored a screamer from outside the box to hand his side an advantage. The final nail in the coffin for the Reds came in the 120th minute of the game, when some good combining passes between Llorente and Alvaro Morata saw the latter through on goal.
In this article, we take a look at the Liverpool player ratings from what was a disappointing night for Jurgen Klopp's men.
Also Read: 5 things we learned as Los Rojiblancos beat the defending champions
Adrian: 3/10
A game that looked over for Atletico Madrid was turned on its head by the mistakes of Liverpool's second-choice keeper. Adrian's misplaced pass right into the feet of Joao Felix and his failure to stop two long-range efforts by Llorente proved fatal for the Reds.
Trent Alexander-Arnold: 6/10
Even though the young English full-back was highly neutralised on the wings by Atletico's midfielders and defenders, he tried to pull every trick out of his hat to help Liverpool on the offence as well as the defence. He had a few impressive shots on goal but Atletico keeper Jan Oblak, who had a great night on-field, kept them out easily.
Joe Gomez: 4/10
Gomez was targeted by Atletico's attackers in the same way that Dejan Lovren was targeted by Watford weeks ago, and this proved to be a master-class strategy by Diego Simeone. The 22-year-old was way out of position for the visitors' first goal and kept Morata on-side for their third one.
Virgil van Dijk: 6/10
A mediocre night for one of the world's best defenders - Van Dijk did nothing wrong to deserve three goals in the back of his team's net. However, the Dutchman could have done better to support his fellow defenders as the team crumbled in extra-time, both tactically and physically.
Andy Robertson: 7/10
Like Alexander-Arnold, Robertson was also not given a lot of space on the wings to do what he usually does with the ball. However, he intelligently switched into the middle for various parts of the game to present himself as an extra man in the centre of the field for the attack.
It looked more likely for the 26-year-old to secure a goal rather than an assist as he played as an advanced winger due to the game's requirements. He also made some crucial contributions in defence which made it difficult for the visitors to attack from the right wing.
Jordan Henderson: 5/10
Despite being Liverpool's best player this season, Henderson was mostly quiet against Atletico Madrid and was not as sharp as he usually is. His return was meant to signal the comeback of a leader but he simply lacked the qualities needed to fuel the entire team to go beyond their level and pull up an amazing victory.
Georginio Wijnaldum: 9/10
Liverpool's trump card and the man for the big occasions, Wijnaldum stepped up against Atletico to fire the comeback with his goal on the brink of the first half. Besides the goal, the Dutch midfielder was a revelation as a box-to-box midfielder and was in the right positions for the entire game.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 8/10
Klopp pulled a very risky tactic in terms of team selection last night, opting for Oxlade-Chamberlain ahead of Fabinho. The former Arsenal midfielder, however, proved his worth and was mightily impressive for the Merseyside giants. He made an inch-perfect cross to secure an assist and was overall vibrant on the pitch.
Mohamed Salah: 7/10
The Egyptian showed off his world-class qualities time and again as he intelligently ran past the Atletico defenders on the right wing. However, missed chances will definitely be rued as he failed to power his team with some goals to earn a win and progress to the next stage of the competition.
Roberto Firmino: 8/10
Firmino was exceptional with his positioning last night and eventually reaped the benefits as he secured a goal to give the Reds a short-lived advantage in extra-time. However, fans would have expected something more from the Brazilian as the Merseyside giants were ultimately short on goals.
Sadio Mane: 5/10
When a player of Mane's quality starts a game, he is often expected to play an integral role in the team's overall set-up. However, the Senegalese failed to live up to expectations as he made some meaningless dribbles at the opposition and failed to threaten their defence throughout the game.
James Milner (sub): 6/10
The English veteran midfielder came on for Oxlade-Chamberlain in the last 10 minutes of normal time and did not let the gaffer down as he mirrored the former Arsenal man's impact in the game through his similar playing style.
A few good runs from the edge of the penalty box almost added to Liverpool's goal tally but the chances were squandered by the attackers.
Fabinho (sub): 5/10
Fabinho was brought on by Klopp with a clear intention of breaking Atletico's momentum in extra-time. However, Atletico's midfielders showed some great display of technique to win the ball from below the nose of the Brazilian. The 26-year-old should have played a few yards deeper instead of his usual high press as the situation demanded the same.
Divock Origi (sub): 5/10
Origi came onto the pitch in the 106th minute with the intention of getting Liverpool back in the game. However, the plan backfired as the Belgian failed to produce any moment of magic in the attack and the Reds went on to lose the ball in the middle of the park, resulting in Atletico's late goals.
Takumi Minamino
Minamino was brought on too late to have a meaningful impact on the game.
Also Read: 3 Talking Points as Rojiblancos record stunning smash and grab victory at Anfield