Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool lost 1-0 to La Liga giants Atletico Madrid in the Champions League; can Diego Simeone’s team finish the job at Anfield?
Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock hailed a defensive masterclass from Atletico Madrid in Tuesday’s Champions League clash, while singling out Trent Alexander-Arnold for all the wrong reasons in his analysis for the BBC.
Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League champions-in-waiting can usually rely on their local-lad-turned-superstar to produce something rather special.
Alexander-Arnold has produced a remarkable 12 assists in all competitions this season from right-back – but arguably the best full-back in European football right now never looked likely to add to that tally at the bubbling cauldron that was the Wanda Metropolitano.
The 21-year-old failed to produce his usual quality in attack and struggled to contain the human express train Renan Lodi at the other end as Liverpool slumped to a 1-0 first-leg defeat in Madrid.
“Trent Alexander-Arnold was another player who did not produce the quality we know he can, and his deliveries were disappointing,” said Warnock, a former Reds full-back himself.
“We saw a couple of his early crosses go over the bar from open play and, even in dead-ball situations, he too often failed to beat the first defender.
“I think a few of Liverpool’s players will be disappointed with their performances, but I also think they will deal with any criticism in the right way.”
As Klopp said at full-time, the tie is not over yet and Atletico still need to perform under the intense pressure of the Anfield crowd in three weeks’ time, a stadium Liverpool have now tasted defeat at since Christian Benteke netted a winner for Crystal Palace three years ago.
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