Jurgen Klopp’s two-leg record and Liverpool’s chance to make history

Tuesday night sees the Reds return to the scene of their sixth European Cup triumph 262 days ago, a win in the last-16 tie at Atletico would put them a step closer to a third consecutive Champions League final.

Liverpool and Atletico have been drawn against each other twice previously in European competition.

They first met at the group stage of this competition in 2008-09 with both games finishing 1-1. Both teams qualified for the knockout stage, remaining unbeaten in the competition.

The following season saw them pitted against each other in the Semi-Final of the Europa League.

The first leg in Madrid in April 2010 was played in the midst of the volcanic eruption in Iceland. As a result the Reds had to travel to the Spanish capital by train to Bordeaux (via London and Paris) before flying to Madrid. Liverpool lost the game 1-0 to an early Diego Forlan goal.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Thursday, April 29, 2010: Liverpool's captain Steven Gerrard MBE rues a missed chance against Club Atletico de Madrid during the UEFA Europa League Semi-Final 2nd Leg match at Anfield. (Photo by: David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

In the return, Forlan scored the extra-time goal that took Atletico through to the final on away goals after going down 2-1 at Anfield. They defeated Fulham to lift the trophy.

 

In Spain…

In 19 away games in Spain, Liverpool have won 7, drawn 5 and lost 7.

The Reds have won 4 times in their last 10 visits to Spain with their last victory coming in the 1-0 defeat of Real Madrid in 2009.

Liverpool’s last 13 games in Spain have seen them score 10 goals in total, with 3 of those coming in one first half in Seville. In the same period they have conceded 14, with 3 coming last season at the Camp Nou.

BARCELONA, SPAIN - Wednesday, May 1, 2019: Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk (L) and FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi during the UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg match between FC Barcelona and Liverpool FC at the Camp Nou. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Their biggest win on Spanish soil came at Real Sociedad in the UEFA Cup on October 1975. The 3-1 win is one of only 2 occasions they have scored more than twice in visits to the country – the 3-3 Champions League draw at Sevilla being the other.

This is Liverpool’s fifth successive European campaign in which they have faced Spanish opposition. They have only been eliminated by clubs from Spain twice in the last 11 two-legged ties – the last by Atletico in 2009-10.

 

Goals records

Roberto Firmino has scored more goals away from Anfield (39) than any current Liverpool player – 7 more than Mo Salah and 10 more than Sadio Mané.

Mo Salah has scored 20 European goals for Liverpool (all in the Champions League), with Sadio Mané’s 18 goals also coming in this competition. Roberto Firmino has scored all but one of his 16 goals in Europe for the club in the Champions League.

SALZBURG, AUSTRIA - Tuesday, December 10, 2019: Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores the second goal during the final UEFA Champions League Group E match between FC Salzburg and Liverpool FC at the Red Bull Arena. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Salah is the club’s joint third highest scorer in Europe, alongside Ian Rush (also 20). Steven Gerrard tops the list with 41, while Michael Owen has 22.

Salah’s 20 goals in this competition for Liverpool have come in just 33 appearances.

Salah scored 4 goals in the group stage this season – more than any other Reds player.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has scored 3 goals in his last 3 Champions League games and 5 in his 11 European appearances for the Reds.

 

Need to know

Andy Robertson is the only Liverpool player who could miss the second leg if he is yellow carded today, having been booked in both clashes with Napoli.

Liverpool have never lost a two-legged European tie under Jurgen Klopp, winning all of the previous 10.

Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), JUNE 1, 2019 - Football / Soccer : UEFA Champions League final match Tottenham Hotspur FC 0-2 Liverpool FC at Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by D.Nakashima/AFLO)

The Reds are seeking to become the first English club in history to reach 3 successive European Cup finals.

 

Atleti Spotlight

This is Atletico’s 10th Champions League campaign (their 8th in the knockout stages) and their 15th in total in Europe’s premier competition.

Atletico have reached the final of the European Cup/Champions League 3 times, losing in 1974, 2014 and 2016. No team has ever reached as many final without lifting the trophy.

However, they have won a trio of Europa Leagues in the last 10 seasons and the Cup Winners Cup in 1962.

Since 2014 they have failed to reach the knockout stages of this competition only once (having taken part each season) and on that occasion in 2017-18 they parachuted into the Europa League and defeated Marseille 3-0 in the Final.

MADRID, SPAIN - Sunday, March 28, 2010: Real Madrid Club de Futbol's Xabi Alonso and Club Atletico de Madrid's Tiago Mendes during the La Liga Primera Division Madrid Derby match at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. (Pic by Hoch Zwei/Sprimont Press/Propaganda)

Since that campaign they have reached the Final twice and also a Quarter-Final and a Semi-Final, losing to city neighbours Real each time.

In the Champions League they have won 7 and drawn 2 of the last 9 at home and lost only one of the last 21 – to Chelsea in 2017-18). That is their only defeat in the last 25 on home soil in all European games.

In European competition they are unbeaten in the last 13 at home, winning 11 with 2 draws.

The last 11 of those games at home have seen them concede only 3 times, while they have scored in each of the last 16 in front of their own fans since playing out a 0-0 draw with Bayer Leverkusen in this round of the 2016-17 campaign.

Only Juventus in the last 9 European games have found the net at Atletico and they scored twice in this season’s group stage.

Atletico have scored 37 goals in 33 games this season in league and cup. The 2-2 draw at Valencia last Friday was the first time in 7 matches they had scored more than once (they twice led in that game).

At home this season Atletico have played 14 times winning 9 with their sole loss coming on the first day of December when they were beaten 1-0 by Barcelona. They have scored 20 times while conceding 8, with half of those 8 coming in the last 11.

Koke, Saul Niguez and Mario Hermoso celebrates a goal during La Liga match between Club Atletico de Madrid and RCD Espanyol at Wanda Metropolitano on November 10, 2019 in Madrid, Spain . (Photo by Ruben de la Fuente Perez/NurPhoto)

That Barcelona defeat is their only loss at the Wanda Metropolitano in the last 23 matches, keeping clean sheets in 15 of those.

Only Real Madrid and Barcelona have left Atletico with a win in the last 40 matches.

Home and away ‘The Rojiblancos’ have won one of the last 7 outings in all competitions. That came in their last home outing against Granada (1-0).

Diego Simeone will take charge of a team against Liverpool for the first time in his career. He has been Atletico coach since December 2011 and has lifted one La Liga, one Copa Del Rey, 2 Europa Leagues and 2 Spanish Super Cups.

* All stats thanks to LFC statistician Ged Rea.