18′ Liverpool are upping the ante to keep the home side compressed inside their own half. There’s no way out for Los Rojiblancos at the moment.
17′ Atletico have never previously lost a match in which Saul has scored in all competitions (P36 W32 D4 L0 before tonight).
16′ Henderson feeds the run of Salah in the right inside channel, but Felipe does well under pressure to win possession before clearing his lines.
15′ Savic makes an important interception for the home side at the back to break up Robertson’s pass towards Wijnaldum on the charge.
14′ Alexander-Arnold and Henderson combine down the right flank, but once again his range is off with a cross into the box, sending his delivery over the bar.
11′ Liverpool make positive ground in the Atletico half, but Alexander-Arnold ends the attack by slicing his cross over the bar from the right flank.
10′ Saul’s opener (03:46) is the earliest Liverpool have conceded in the Champions League since Gabriel Jesus scored past them in the second minute for Man City in April 2018; nine of Saul’s 10 Champions League goals have come in the first half.
9′ Atletico have not allowed the visitors to settle into the game. It has been an impressive start from Simeone’s men to put Liverpool on the back foot.
7′ Saul releases the run of Correa into the left inside channel from a free-kick. The Argentine sends a low ball across the face of goal, missing the target. However, he was flagged offside anyway.
6′ Atletico keep the pressure on the visitor as Vrsaljko sends a dangerous cross towards the near post, but Alisson is there to gather the ball ahead of Morata.
4′ GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!! SAUL PUTS ATLETICO AHEAD!!! 1-0!!! The home side take the lead in the tie as Saul converts from close range. Koke puts his delivery on the spot from the corner on the right flank. It strikes Fabinho on the boot and travels towards the near post. Saul reacts to the loose ball and stabs his effort past Alisson from six yards out to put his side in front.
4′ Van Dijk concedes a corner, keeping the pressure on the visitors in the early stages.
3′ Lodi collects on the left flank and surges past Alexander-Arnold. He whips a dangerous cross towards Morata, but it just evades the head of the forward in the middle.
2′ Van Dijk looks for the long ball over the top for Alexander-Arnold, but the ball skips off the pitch and travels behind for a goal-kick.
1′ We’re underway at the Wanda Metropolitano.
The head-to-head between Atletico Madrid and Liverpool in Europe is perfectly balanced with one win each and two draws (four goals each). However, Atletico eliminated Liverpool in their only knockout tie, it was in the 2009/10 Europa League semi-finals, a tournament Atletico won, beating Fulham 2-1 in the final.
Klopp has made two changes to his starting line-up from the side that began Liverpool’s win over Norwich. Mane and Fabinho are in from the off on this occasion as Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita drop to the bench.
Atletico have made three changes to their side that drew last time out against Valencia. Santiago Arias, Llorente and Vitolo make way from the starting line-up. Vrsaljko, Lemar and Morata are called into the team, while Diego Costa is on the bench for Simeone’s men.
LIVERPOOL SUBS: James Milner, Naby Keita, Adrian, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Takumi Minamino, Divock Origi, Joel Matip.
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson; Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum; Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane.
ATLETICO MADRID SUBS: Antonio Adan, Jose Gimenez, Marcos Llorente, Diego Costa, Vitolo, Yannick Carrasco, Mario Hermoso.
ATLETICO MADRID (4-4-2): Jan Oblak; Sime Vrsaljko, Felipe, Stefan Savic, Renan Lodi; Saul Niguez, Koke, Thomas Partey, Thomas Lemar; Alvaro Morata, Angel Correa.
Liverpool’s march towards the Premier League crown took another step forward with their win over Norwich at the weekend. They’re now 25 points clear of Manchester City in second place, leaving them within touching distance of the title. The holders did get off to a poor start in their Champions League campaign, losing 2-0 to Napoli on the road. The Reds were strong enough to bounce back, but there is reason to fear Atletico and Simeone in a knockout fixture in their bid to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Atletico enter the contest looking to take the scalp of the holders to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in two seasons. Diego Simeone’s men have not been in great form of late, winning only one of their last seven matches in all competitions. They allowed Valencia to come from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw in their last outing at the Mestalla at the weekend. Los Rojiblancos did finish second in the group stage behind Juventus and will know that they will need to elevate the standard of their play to overcome Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Good evening and welcome to the Champions League round-of-16 first leg clash between Atletico Madrid and Liverpool at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Saúl
Goal