Liverpool’s new-found mortality exposed by an Atletico side built to win – but slump was always going to come

Jurgen Klopp was critical of Atletico’s style of play but the way his side has dropped off in the last month should be of much greater concern as their trophy aspirations are now confined to the Premier League only

Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool were later knocked out of the FA Cup by Chelsea (Getty Images)

Jurgen Klopp may have rather bitterly argued that Atletico Madrid’s approach isn’t the best possible football, but Diego Simeone came up with the best response.

The German’s “proper football” comments were put to Simeone and he was asked to describe how his side play.

“To win,” he said, bluntly. “With all our soul.”

That spirit can still go a very long way in an elite knockout competition like the Champions League, but may well go even further this season - if it actually finishes.

It does feel like the competition has opened up, and that isn’t just because Liverpool have been knocked out. The Liverpool of March 2020, after all, isn’t quite the same as the Liverpool of even January 2020 or pretty much all of 2019.

For all of that time, you could have made a fair argument that they were by far Europe’s best team, maybe along with Manchester City.

They have instead dropped off at just the wrong time, at least as regards to retaining the Champions League.

This extra-time defeat made it four defeats in six in all competitions, and ensures the only competition they’ll win will be the Premier League itself. That is all they wanted so won’t be a disappointing season, it must be stated, but there was the sense for long periods they could have actually won everything.

They suddenly look so mortal again. The reality is that level of performance was simply unsustainable, and that a levelling-off - and temporary big drop-off - was always inevitable. It’s impossible to maintain that for so long.

That view only feels fortified by the fact that this was probably their best performance in weeks. Had it not been for the exceptional Jan Oblak - who Simeone declared the best goalkeeper in the world - and Adrian, who most certainly isn’t the best goalkeeper in the world, it could have been very different. Liverpool probably would have been out of sight in the 90 minutes itself. They had enough chances, which somewhat cuts against the image of this Atletico as the impregnable defence force they were at their peak.

They are someway short of that. In fact, there is probably less to them than at any point under Simeone. The defence isn’t as tight, the attack not as intense or trusting. They somewhat got away with it on Wednesday through long shots, both in a literal and figurative sense.

This wasn’t quite a defiant defensive masterclass of the type you’d usually associate with an Atletico victory away at a big team. It was much luckier than that, especially since they couldn’t properly defend, and rarely looked convincing in attack.

And yet here they are, with arguably their best chance to win the Champions League in all that time. That isn’t down to their quality, but the general quality of the competition.

It does feel as if the majority of the top sides are having a rare drop-off. Paris Saint-Germain’s celebrations after their last-16 win over Borussia Dortmund reflected their recent history of failure at that stage, but should also reflect optimism at their own best chance to win it. They’re probably the most complete, highest quality side left.

Manchester City would be that had they retained last season’s form, but they’ve evidently had such a drop-off of their own in the Premier League. Then again, this could be one of those campaigns, where all intensity is reserved for the Champions League and they’re just emboldened in it - especially given the controversy of their pending ban.

Juventus would of course be mentioned here, except they raise the prospect of something much more significant to the season - whether it finishes at all.

Daniele Rugani’s positive test for Covid-19 has created the problem literally everyone in football was - unrealistically - hoping to avoid. It is also a problem with multiple knock-on effects.

Most immediate, though, is the threat to this Champions League calendar. Having been due to play their return leg against Lyon in five days, the squad now enters quarantine for two weeks. By the time that’s finished, they will be into the international break, just days before the Euro 2020 play-offs.

Once that’s over, on Tuesday 31 March, the Champions League quarter-final first legs start seven days later, with the second legs immediately following, and a week break before the semi-finals take place over consecutive weeks again.

As much as a mess, it’s a calendar bursting at the seams.

It’s also obviously small in the grand scheme of things, but it’s another issue that the coronavirus crisis has exposed: the huge problem of football’s calendar.

So what do Uefa do? Pushing the Juventus-Lyon game back causes disruption. Do they allow the delay of certain games, or go to single legs for the quarters and semis in neutral venues?

Is it even possible this can continue amid an escalating crisis. It certainly puts a goalkeeping error, or Klopp’s response, into perspective.