Liverpool suffered only their third defeat of the season when they were beaten 1-0 by Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.
And so the wait goes on. Having won at Genk and Salzburg, the Reds were hoping to secure a third consecutive away win at Europe’s top table for the first time since the days of Joe Fagan. And in fact, despite all of their recent success, Liverpool’s form on the road at this level is pretty woeful, with this match representing their seventh loss in their last 11 Champions League away games. You have to go back to the 1970s, with frequent trips behind the Iron Curtain, for the last time the Reds lost so frequently away from Anfield in Europe’s premier competition.
Although games played a decade ago bear no relevance now, the scorelines in Liverpool’s previous four meetings with Atleti are striking: 1-1, 1-1, (an Icelandic volcano affected) 0-1 and 2-1 aet. All very close matches with little to separate the teams.
And since that one goal defeat at the Vicente Calderón Stadium in 2010, Liverpool have now drawn one and lost four of their away matches against Spanish sides. Further 1-0 losses at Real Madrid and Villarreal were followed by a crazy 3-3 at Sevilla and a three goal loss at Barcelona. Still, that last one worked out alright, didn’t it?
The rest of this post-match analysis is for subscribers only.
[ttt-subscribe-article]
