Liverpool player ratings: Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold off form in Champions League loss

1/22
David Lynch18 February 2020

Liverpool lost for the first time since September as Diego Simeone masterminded an Atletico Madrid win in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

David Lynch was at Wanda Metropolitano to run the rule over Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Could do little about the goal and wasn’t otherwise busy as Atletico focused most of their efforts on defending.

Mishit two early crosses and didn’t really recover from there. Liverpool needed his creative talents more than ever, but he was unable to provide a telling ball.

AFP via Getty Images

Seemed to be taken by surprise every time the opposition pressed him - which they did ridiculously regularly! Won’t face many physical tests like this, to be fair.

Looked more rattled than he has done for a long time but it would be unfair to suggest he lost too many battles. Saw a number of trademark crossfield balls cut out.

Did incredibly well to stop Morata tapping in at the back post in the first half. Looked more composed going forward than many of his team-mates.

Unlucky to see the ball cannon into Saul’s path for the Atletico goal. Was otherwise lively in the middle, keeping Liverpool on the front foot.

Struggled more than most to play in the tight spaces that Atleti did leave, surrendering possession as a result. Forced off late in the second half due to injury.

Plenty of the ball but struggled like many others to do much with it. A night to forget.

AFP via Getty Images

It would be unfair to judge the Egyptian too harshly for a 90 minutes in which he had to feed on scraps. Tried and tried before being subbed off as Klopp looked to mix things up.

Liverpool’s best player in tight spaces and that told in a game where that was all that was available. Unfortunate that at least one of his brilliant moments didn’t result in anything decisive.

Looked threatening down the left in the first half but taken off for his own sake at the break as was in danger of picking up a second yellow card.

AFP via Getty Images

Substitutes

  • Divock Origi, 4: Could not progress the ball in the way Mane did and offered little threat in truth.

  • Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, 5: Brought on to provide the attacking spark his teammates couldn’t, but found things just as difficult.

  • James Milner, 5: Replaced Henderson but wasn’t heavily involved.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in