3 Things We Learnt From Atletico Madrid 2-3 Liverpool

1) Naby Keita had a poor game

Keita and Liverpool, in general, started the game extremely brightly so much so that they found themselves 2-0 up in the 1st 13 minutes of the game.  The second goal was scored by Naby who hammered  a volley past Oblak from the edge of the box. Things, however, went downhill from there.  Within the next 15 minutes, Atletico were level courtesy of 2 goals from Antoine Griezmann. Keita, unfortunately, found himself at the centre of both the goals Liverpool conceded. For the first, Lemar bypassed him with ease on the left flank and fired a cross which Koke collected and shot which Griezmann guided into the back of the net. For the second as well, it was Felix who picked up the ball on Liverpool's right flank and left Keita in the dust before laying a throughball for Griezmann. Griezmann's touch took the ball away from Van Dijk and he finished it past Alisson. Klopp reacted by withdrawing Keita and sent Fabinho to replace him. Keita may offer a lot on the ball but he needs to improve defensively if he wants to play in the big games. Klopp clearly has faith in him but that hasn't been repaid yet.

2) Liverpool were lucky to win the game

Griezmann's red card in the 52nd minute of the game changed the entire landscape of the match. Up until that point, Atletico were clearly the better side. Griezmann could easily have had a hat-trick and it was Alisson's heroics that kept Liverpool in the game. Even with 10 men, Atletico looked quite comfortable and Liverpool failed to create any clear cut chances. It changed after a moment of madness from Hermoso who made a cynical challenge on Jota in the box and Liverpool were awarded a penalty. Mo Salah duly converted and gave Liverpool the lead. There was still more drama to come as Atletico were awarded the penalty in the 82nd minute as Gimenez went to ground in the box after a tussle with Jota. The referee was asked to look in the monitor and he overturned his decision. It was the right decision after all as the contact looked minimal but it was a close call and the decision could have easily gone against Liverpool. 

3) Liverpool scoring goals for fun but defense looking shaky

Liverpool have now scored three or more goals in eight successive away games in all competitions. Moreover, last night was the first time Atleti conceded 3+ goals in a home European game under Diego Simeone. However, Liverpool do not look the best defensively. They absolutely dominated Milan in the first 40 mins of our first home game but allowed them back into the game in the last 5 minutes. Lat night, they steamrolled over Atletico in the first 15 minutes but were unable to keep their lead intact and were almost lucky to go into HT without conceding the third. They played the offside trap horribly and lacked any real control over the game. Things must improve quickly before our next game against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday night. Manchester United aren't in the best of form themselves but they certainly boast the attacking talent to exploit our deficiencies.