The last game in the Champions League before the coronavirus shutdown was a truly memorable one – Atletico Madrid came from two goals down to beat Liverpool at Anfield.
Despite being seen as a legendary win against the odds, one of the players from that night insists that his team weren’t actually as up against it as some people seem to think.
“It was a very difficult match, but we already knew that,” Saul Niguez is quoted as saying by Goal.com.
“For instance, I remember when we faced Bayern Munich in Germany [in 2016]. I really suffered in that one, I thought to myself we wouldn’t come out alive!
“Whereas at Anfield, I had a lot of confidence in the team, I thought we were doing things well.”
Liverpool were confident going into the tie because of Atletico’s bad form, and even when the Reds 1-0 lost away at the Wanda Metropolitano in the first leg, it still didn’t look like Jurgen Klopp’s team were going to be knocked out, especially at home.
Atletico were bruised and battered for long periods, but held out even after the home team scored to level things up. Spaces began to open up, as Saul pointed out, and Diego Simeone made the right changes to exploit those gaps.
Eventually the away side had turned things around, and when it came to extra time the shocks only got bigger.
