Atletico Madrid ended Liverpool’s Champions League run as Marcos Llorente’s double and Alvaro Morata’s late strike stunned Anfield with a 3-2 win after extra time to progress to 4-2 aggregate to book a place in quarter-finals.
The title holders looked to have stopped Atletico’s dogged resistence when Roberto Firmino put them ahead in the tie after Georginio Wijnaldum’s first-half header forced the game into an extra 30 minutes.
However, Liverpool were made to rue a lot of missed chances to kill the tie off in 90 minutes before Llorente’s twice curled from outside the box and Morata twisted the knife by breaking away to score in added time of extra time.
The defeat ended Jurgen Klopp’s proud record of never losing a two-legged European tie as the English side manager manager.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson says Liverpool deserve to go through: “Obviously we’re really disappointed. I thought the performance overall was very good, the intensity was everything we spoke about before the game, we put it into the game, but we’re disappointed with the goals we concede. Any mistake or lapse in concentration can cost you, and like I say we’re really disappointed with the result overall.”
He added: “With the position that we’re in, to concede the goals we did, we’re disappointed and we have to take it on the chin. Oblak made some great saves, but we created so many chances to score, and obviously couldn’t kill the game off , that’s the way they play, hard to play against, but to be honest we created a lot. We’ve got the derby next, so that’s what the focus needs to change to very quickly.”
The Spanish side hero Marcos Llorente: “We don’t have any limits to how much we can go through and suffer. We defended with our lives and when we all pull in the same direction, these things can happen.”
Football fixtures in several European countries have been played in empty stadiums as authorities limit large public gatherings.
Paris Saint-Germain beat Borussia Dortmund on a 3-2 aggregate in a deserted Parc des Princes in their last 16 second leg.
The remaining Champions League last-16 ties are:
Juventus vs Lyon Agg. (0-1)
Man City vs Real Madrid – Agg.(2-1)
Barcelona vs Napoli – Agg. (1-1)
Bayern Munich vs Chelsea – Agg. (3-0)
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