Liverpool need to overturn a 0-1 first leg deficit if we’re to continue our defence of the Champions League trophy.
We were beaten away to Atletico Madrid a fortnight ago in a game we failed to produce a single shot on target.
This was the first of three defeats in a four-game spell heading into this weekend’s Premier League game against Bournemouth.
We saw us fall from favourites to the bookmakers third choice in the Champions League final odds, now 7/1 to defend the trophy. Manchester City have been made the 3/1 favourites, followed by Bayern Munich at 15/4. Both sides scored very favourable victories in their first legs.
Last weekend’s 3-0 loss to Watford may be a huge wakening call for Jurgen Klopp a co. If anything, it can be used a positive moving forward. For starters, this weekend’s game is of little importance now that our unbeaten streak is over. This means our star players can be rested ahead of the trip to Madrid.
Elimination from the FA Cup midweek also means that the Champions League is the last trophy left for us to concentrate on, with the Premier League title all but locked up already.
Atletico Madrid have been far short of the side that have reached two Champions League finals over the past six years. Atletico are heading into the weekend’s action down in fifth spot in La Liga before a home match against Sevilla. They certainly won’t want to lose to their fellow top four hopefuls given they could fall as low as sixth by the end of the weekend.
Diego Simeone’s side retain their excellent defensive record – conceding just 19 goals in their 26 league games this season, and six in their seven Champions League matches. They finished runners-up to Juventus in their group which also included Bayer Leverkusen and Lokomotiv Moscow.
One thing that works in our favour for the second leg is that Madrid’s second team haven’t been too fruitful in front of goal this season. Alvaro Morata is their top goalscorer in La Liga with just seven goals, whilst Angel Correra is the only other player to score more than three – the Argentine has five.
Our dip in form in recent weeks will be the main concern for Jurgen Klopp to answer before we welcome Atletico Madrid to Anfield on Wednesday. As well as failing to score in the first leg, we were shut out at Watford in the Premier League and Chelsea in the FA Cup.
Fortunately, our home form is much better. We put three past West Ham United in our last Premier League home game, and four against Southampton before that. A 2-0 win midweek would book a place in the quarter-finals, whilst three goals should be sufficient as I wouldn’t expect the Spanish side to score more than once.
