Atletico Madrid eliminated Liverpool out of the Champions League in an absolute thriller clash, whilst Neymar inspired a PSG comeback against BVB to secure the Ligue 1 giants a spot in the quarter-finals. Here is everything you need to know about the second leg fixtures on Wednesday night.
Liverpool 2 – 3 Atletico Madrid (2-4 on agg)
What. A. Game! We were finally treated to a brutal Champions League tie full of quality, pace, a thundering home crowd and what felt like a billion shots on target. The rain-drenched battle had us on the edge of our seats for over two hours and in the end, Atletico Madrid dumped unlucky Liverpool out of the tournament.
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The reigning champions attempted a total of 34 shots, 11 on target. They were absolutely relentless, but so was Atleti’s keeper Jan Oblak, who kept stopping one strike after another. Liverpool finally opened up the scoresheet in the 43rd minute thanks to a Georginio Wijnaldum header to give the hosts a lead and level 1-1 on aggregate.
20 – Roberto Firmino has scored his first goal at Anfield in 20 games in all competitions, since netting vs Porto in April 2019 – 337 days ago. Overdue.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 11, 2020
The game went onto extra time when Roberto Firmino finally scored at Anfield and seemingly won the game, but 167 seconds later super-sub Marcos Llorente scored for Atleti. Diego Simeone’s men found the back of Adrian’s net mainly thanks to the keeper’s own error, which just made us all miss Alisson even more.
4 – Since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, Liverpool's goalkeepers have made more errors leading to goals in the Champions League than any other team's keepers in this period (4 – Adrian x1 + Karius x3). Calamity. pic.twitter.com/OteHSxNpFt
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 11, 2020
Check out our prediction ahead of this clash. The score was 2-2 on aggregate when Llorente netted his second in minute 105+1′ and Atleti took the overall lead, only for Alvaro Morata to seal the final score with a beauty in the very last minute of play.
2 – Marcos Llorente is only the second ever Atletico player to score twice as a substitute in a Champions League game after Sergio Aguero vs Chelsea in November 2009. Turnaround. pic.twitter.com/FjF3h44J4Y
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 11, 2020
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“I’m searching for the right words,” said Jurgen Klopp. “Our main mistake was to not score the second goal five minutes earlier. We scored it in extra time and not in the 90 minutes. The 90 minutes were exceptional, the boys played a wonderful game. You saw all the goals we conceded you should not concede them. We lose in a specific way, it’s always different but it’s difficult to explain those goals, to be honest. We will come again and go again but now we are out.”
2 – For only the second time in Liverpool's history, the Reds have scored 2+ goals in a home European encounter and suffered a defeat (also 2-3 v Udinese in 2012 in the Europa League), surrendering a two-goal lead to lose on home soil in Europe for the first time. Unprecedented. pic.twitter.com/wHaxsUzNHq
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 11, 2020
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PSG 2 – 0 Dortmund (3-2 on agg)
It was another eery night in the Champions League as PSG took on Dortmund in almost complete silence at the empty Parc des Princes. This was only the third time in PSG’s history that a home game was played behind closed doors in all competitions, but thousands of fans were outside the stadium in anticipation of their victory.
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The hosts went into the game with a goal down on aggregate but their incredible opening 45 minutes quickly overturned the score. Neymar put the hosts ahead in the 28th minute after maneuvering into the box to meet Angel Di Maria’s corner with a monumental diving header.
38 – Neymar has been directly involved in 38 goals in 28 home Champions League appearances (20 for Barcelona, 8 for PSG), scoring 26 goals and assisting 12. Talisman. pic.twitter.com/B0I29wMQNm
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 11, 2020
PSG took the outright aggregate lead in the last seconds of the first half thanks to Juan Bernat Velasco, who deflected a ball from Pablo Sarabia past Dortmund’s Roman Burki. The Bundesliga side had a series of chances, but were clearly having a bad night and could not outperform PSG.
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Tensions rose high by the end of the clash with Dortmund’s Emre Can getting sent off after clashing with Neymar and being shown a second yellow. “We’ve been winning for the last 28 games,” said BVB boss Thomas Thuchel at the end of the match. “This team only lost that one game at Dortmund, with a one-goal difference, and people were talking as if we were fourth in Ligue 1 and knocked out of the cups. Everyone wants to be a critic – it’s easy.”
Contrary to what we thought, PSG ended with 3-2 on aggregate to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the sixth time, more than any other French club in the history of the competition.
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Atleti and PSG join Atalanta and Leipzig in the final eight of this season’s Champions League. See you next week for the last games of the Round of 16 between Man City and Real Madrid, and Juventus and Lyon. Make sure to bet with 22Bet!
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