The knockout roles of the Champions League do not know the impossible, the major confrontations have different accounts and play on the small details, the character of the team always has a role in resolving those details .. Isn’t that what is usually said? Well, let him not, Liverpool will not defeat Atletico, Liverpool will eat Atletico alive, at least that’s what all the evidence tells us.

Not because Liverpool is bigger than Atletico, not because he is the defending champion, not because he has a certain superstar who will guide him at any moment, not because Jurgen Klopp is better than Diego Simeone .. All of the matter is that Atletico need to get out of its current level suddenly, exceeding its current limits , On a day that marks the unprecedented disintegration of the current version of Liverpool. Ajax passed Real Madrid when he presented his best seasons and the latter gave his worst seasons, Rome stunned Barcelona when he presented his best match against the Catalan match, the worst in a floundering season.

Between history and reality

The formal direct confrontations between them were not multiple, only two matches in the 2008-2009 Champions League group stage, a 1-1 draw prevailed over both of them. The meeting was renewed in April 2010, but this time in the semi-finals of the European League, where the Atlante won the first goal by Diego Forlan, then received a goal from Aquilani in Anfield that led him to the extra time, during which he approached the qualification with the goal of Yossi Benayoun, before Forlan returned and flew at Roqueblankos to the final The competition thanks to the goal of the outside goal, which he won at the expense of Fulham.

In the end, this was not Atletico Simeone, nor that of Liverpool Club … Rather, Liverpool was under different ownership and management, the management of the disastrous duo Tom Hicks and George Gillett. The Reds’ transfer to ownership of the Fenway Group and under the leadership of John Henry, the club’s current president who oversaw his gradual rise to the day, began in October 2010.

From that moment each fought their way forward, Liverpool struggled to get rid of their debts and rebuild the team, competed for the Premier League and failed in 2014, reached the final of the European League and lost in 2016, reached the final of the Champions League and lost in 2018, competed for the Premier League again but lost in 2019, But he was crowned the Champions League in the same year, as was practically crowned by the current version of the Premier League. In other words, this is the time for Liverpool to harvest.

On the other hand, Atletico launched the European League title already, Simeone came and built his team, and he won the European League in 2012 and then hit Chelsea with the famous four in the European Super, later in 2013 he won the King’s Cup, and then seized the famous League title in 2014, the same year that he lost Champions League final. Once again he returns to the 2016 Final of the Champions and loses it with a penalty shootout. It is the spring of Liverpool, which marks the fall of the Atlante in every sense of the word.

On paper and on the field

The simplest thing to say, Liverpool is on the throne of the Premier League with 76 points out of 78 he was able to collect so far, 25 wins and one draw in 26 games. We only know of him two losses this season, one against Napoli in the group stage, and the second against Aston Villa in the second team in the least valuable cup. Atletico on the other hand is the fourth La Liga, 13 points behind leaders Real Madrid, has 42 points with 12 wins, 6 draws and 6 defeats in 24 games.

Liverpool did not make any prominent contracts in the summer, just an alternative goalkeeper, and in the winter he decided to increase the depth of the list by including the Japanese Minamino, this does not mean that he is without deficiencies, but in terms of the basic elements does not have the slightest problem as long as they are fine. Recently he was only affected by the absence of Sadio Mane, who returned in the previous match against Norwich and scored the winning goal already. On the other hand, Atlético lost Antoine Griezmann, Gabe, Rodri, Lucas Hernandez, Diego Godin, Felipe Lewis and Juanfran in the summer transfer market only … those who are in their place are the 126 million teenager Joao Felix, Marcus Llorente, Hector Herrera, Mario Hermoso, Felipe, Renan Lodi and Kieran Trippier. In other words, one team came out and another came.

Liverpool has reached the top of its perfection, while Diego Simeone is rebuilding the ball again, rebuilding his team that was destroyed, and therefore since he has already left the King’s Cup, the only achievement of this season is to qualify for the Champions League next season, in a race that does not separate With the fourth on the eighth only 3 points, so assuming that he would pass from the round of 16, where will he go later in this team? And he has already bumped with Dragon in the round of 16.

Simeone’s stakes are exactly as summed up by journalist Joe Walker: “Atletico’s slogan is (Never Give Up), and they trust their ability to achieve a big surprise. Go to Anfield. ” On mentioning the injuries, Atlético will run without Felix, Trippier and Herrera, while Diego Costa remains in doubt.

Light shining downtown ..

In his pre-match analysis, Jonathan Wilson, through the Guardian newspaper, briefly recounted the story we told here about 3 years ago about Argentine football opponent Luis Cesar Minotti, the godfather of her offensive and possession and Carlos Bilardo, captain of the anti-ball uprising, who both achieved the World Cup in their own way, but one of them He only influenced Simeone, the second of them, who later trained him in Seville and was considered by the “Chollo” as his footballing father. Billardo in turn drew his teachings from an older godfather, Osvaldo Zubeldia.

Just to revive the memory, Zubeldia is the Estudiantes coach who has achieved the Libertadores Cup 3 times in a row, and he led the club itself to achieve the Argentine League title, becoming the first to achieve it outside the Big Five (Boca Juniors – River Plate – Racing – Independiente – San Lorenzo). Billardo when he was a player for Zobeldia who was hiding a needle and pricking the attackers, and when he became Simeone’s coach he shouted at his doctor because he reassured the opponent player, asking him to run over the opponents .. Of course Simeone himself seemed very fond when he threw an extra ball on the field to block Malaga’s rebound.

Of course, Simeone is not as extreme as his predecessors, but the denominator that he will gather with them forever is to focus his method on teamwork, great physical effort, and winning in any way. From the perspective that he is the team with the least chance of winning, so he is good at closing spaces and hitting defenders, but which “Underdog” ranks thirteenth among the richest clubs in terms of returns? From Wilson’s perspective, it no longer makes sense anymore.

Wilson quotes American investor Stephen Mandis in his book “The Road of Real Madrid”, his criticism of Atletico for not contracting with the stars in the famous “Galacticos” method of Merengue, which he considered ensuring him more rapid growth and wider spread among the masses, although at first glance it seems “a question that ignores” The nature of the club. “However, the map of Atlético Madrid itself indicates a change that is essentially in line with the advice of Mendes, the departure of the last remaining old physical guard, and the solutions of talents from different clay like Joao Felix and Thomas Lemar.

What is worse is that in the end there is still a clear internal struggle with Simeone, the man who believes in his way but finds himself forced to forfeit one part after another of it, once when he changed his position to turn from this team that will take advantage of the apostates all the time to the large team that is fighting the rest of the teams With the same old weapon, and once when high pressure and offensive ball became the trend of the times, and once when attractive players became an important source of livelihood for club departments, it does not depend on the conditions that he has to cope with as much as he stands on what is going on in the Argentine head himself in front of all these challenges facing his methods and for this reason , Even if the spirit of “chollo” is able to make a match for history, its confusion may lead to tragedy.