Munich and Liverpool – As in 2018, Liverpool’s keeper will play a decisive role in the end of the Champions League. Jürgen Klopp defends him, experts and fans criticize him.
Jürgen Klopp may have felt like he was in the wrong film.
As in the 2018 Champions League final, his goalkeeper was partly responsible for his failure in the top division on Wednesday.
After Loris Karius, who failed twice in the final against Real Madrid, Adrián was the unlucky man.
Adrián with a bad miss
Liverpool FC were on course in the second leg against Atlético Madrid after Roberto Firmino scored the 2-0 for the hosts in the 94th minute, turning the 1-0 win from the first leg around.
But only three minutes later, disaster took its course. Adrián was played by Trent-Alexander Arnold and wanted to make the game fast.
But his unchallenged attempt turned into a bad miss that ended up in the feet of Joao Félix. The 20-year-old switched quickly, passing the ball on to Marcos Llorente, who shot from the edge of the penalty area into the right-hand corner and scored.
I love this kid, but…
“The pass was not good. I love him, but it was the wrong decision,” criticised Klopp Adrián, who was only put in the box because of the injury to regular Alisson Becker.
“It was a bit too easy for them to complete the situation,” said Klopp. Although the 52-year-old added that he would not be blamed or condemned, he had saved the team more often.
However, Klopp knew that Adrián was at least partly to blame for the outing, which was sealed by Llorentes’ second goal (105+1) and Álvaro Morata’s closing goal.
In addition to countless fans, some of whom were out of tune in the social media, a number of experts did not leave a good hair on the 33-year-old’s head, who was also recently in goal for Chelsea FC when they were eliminated in the FA Cup, letting a shot slip through his fingers.
Experts critical
On English television, Rio Ferdinand drew a parallel to the Liverpool era before Alisson.
“It recalls what we talked about 18 months, two years ago. If you don’t have a top goalkeeper, you’re punished at the highest level,” said the former defender at BT Sport.
Following the lost Champions League final, Liverpool spent a whopping €62.5 million on Alisson in the summer of 2018, which has since proved to be well invested.
Ferdinand’s former national team-mate Michael Owen also said: “The difference between the two sides was the goalkeepers.
For while Adrián once made a crucial mistake, Jan Oblak delivered a world-class performance at Atlético.