Two years ago today, Liverpool's reign as European champions was ended.
Attempting to overturn a one-goal deficit from the first leg, Jurgen Klopp's side found themselves ahead on aggregate in extra-time after a Gini Wijnaldum header got the better of Jan Oblak.
The tide soon turned, though, as Atletico struck three times in the space of 23 minutes to book their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
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As well as Liverpool's European campaign coming to an end that evening, it also proved to be the final match played at Anfield with supporters present for quite some time.
There were fears over the coronavirus outbreak ahead of kick-off, and the worst fears of those in attendance were realised just days on from this contest as COVID-19 was confirmed as a global pandemic.
Below is a reflection on how the national media reacted to the Reds exiting the Champions League in dramatic circumstances as football was soon placed on hold across the globe.
'A beautifully controlled strangulation'
Barney Ronay of the Guardian wrote :
"Midway through this second leg, as the black shirts fell back into their carefully-stitched patterns, as Liverpool’s players struggled a little in their familiar home spaces, it was hard to avoid the feeling of a pair of hands reaching almost imperceptibly for the lapels, the clavicle, and finally the throat. This was a beautifully controlled strangulation, enacted in plain sight by Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid.
"But it was also a heist, a rearguard victory during which the Atlético goal seemed to be protected by some invisible membrane, sealed within a kind of high-strength footballing clingfilm.
"If this wasn’t a heist it was something else, a mystery. Time and again at Anfield Liverpool seemed to be close to wrenching the night their way. Time and again, something else happened instead. How do you win a game this many times, find the space, the moment, the opening, but still manage to lose it?"
'Adrian paid the price for a dreadful clearance'
Phil McNulty of the BBC wrote :
"And yet, as the Kop sensed another memorable Champions League victory, Adrian - deputising for the injured Alisson - paid the price for a dreadful clearance as substitute Marcos Llorente pounced with a low finish to secure Atletico's crucial away goal.
Llorente struck again with another composed finish in the 105th minute and with the spirit draining out of Liverpool and their supporters, former Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata adding insult to injury with a third in the dying seconds to send Atletico through to the last eight."
'Atletico began to resemble a boxer on the ropes'
Jason Burt of the Telegraph wrote :
"Klopp had demanded another special night from the Kop and he got it. Liverpool’s fans were as overwhelming as their team and Atletico began to resemble a boxer on the ropes who was in danger of being stopped because the punishment was too severe. But also like a champion boxer they know how to turn to muscle memory and there was a warning of what might happen when, in injury-time, Saul Niguez headed home only for it to be ruled out for offside.
"Still it did not appear to matter as Oblak was finally beaten again with Roberto Firmino meeting a Wijnaldum cross. His header came back off the post and the striker reacted quickly to volley it into the net for his first goal at Anfield in almost a year."
'It may well not take place at all'
Miguel Delaney of the Independent wrote :
"Atletico’s fulsome celebrations on the pitch were undercut by the news emerging at the same time off it that Juventus’ Daniele Rugani had tested positive for COVID-19. With Serie A suspended and the Italian side’s second leg against Lyon already having been scheduled to take place behind closed doors, it may well not take place at all.
"That is now the real danger. That may now be the real shame for a defiantly defensive Atletico. They could well be denied the chance at their own Holy Gail, given the meaning of this competition for them in Diego Simeone’s side, and how they’d lost two finals to Real Madrid.
"They may never get a better chance to win it. They may never get to try take that chance. And after all this effort. Because effort it really was, especially from Oblak."
'The Champions League does not do straightforward'
Rory Smith of the New York Times wrote :
"This is the sort of story Anfield has grown used to in recent years, of course: the nerves, the drama and then, at the end, a hero to acclaim and a victory to celebrate. Klopp had never lost a knockout tie as Liverpool manager; his team had reached the final in the last three European competitions it had contested.
"Liverpool should know by now, though, that the Champions League does not do straightforward. Within two minutes, Ádrian, Liverpool’s stand-in goalkeeper, had misplaced a pass, and Llorente had put Atlético ahead on away goals; a few minutes later, he scored again. Suddenly, Liverpool was staring elimination in the face."
