Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid LIVE: Champions League result, final score and reaction tonight

Tonight Liverpool have the chance to do something they have, unbelievably, never done before.

The Reds have never won a home group stage match in the Champions League against Spanish opposition. They have drawn four group games at Anfield against La Liga sides and lost the other three.

Can they change their fortunes against Atletico Madrid tonight and, in doing so, also qualify for the next round?

There is a more valuable commodity than winning in football for an increasing sphere of fan and that is the “told you so”. This phenomenon is weirdly more pronounced the more successful a team are, when the opportunity to pull out those three words is limited.

So when the chance does materialise, you better believe it is maximised. Which leads us to Liverpool, their ravaged midfield, and the screams of “should have brought in a replacement for Gini Wijnaldum”.

“Told you so!”

Liverpool are without Naby Keita for tonight’s Champions League fixture against Atletico Madrid due to the midfielder picking up a hamstring injury in their Premier League match against Brighton last weekend.

James Milner is also out of contention but Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara both returned to training and may be recalled.

For Atletico, Antoine Griezmann and Stefan Savic are both suspended with Thomas Lemar and Marcos Llorente out due to thigh injuries. Other than those four players Diego Simeone has a full contingent to select from.

Liverpool can qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League if they defeat Atletico Madrid at Anfield tonight. The Reds have won all three of their games so far in Group B and would move eight points clear of Atletico with a win this evening, securing them a place in the next round.

The two sides played out a fascinating encounter in the last matchday with Liverpool taking an early two-goal lead, courtesy of Mo Salah and Naby Keita, at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium. Antoine Griezmann then bagged a brace to bring the La Liga champions back on level terms before being sent off just after half-time.

Salah fired home from the penalty spot 12 minutes from time and Liverpool held out to claim a hard-fought 3-2 victory away from home. Lets hope tonight’s clash brings as much excitement.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp can finally look forward to hosting Atletico Madrid 20 months on from their last meeting at Anfield.

When the two last met on Merseyside in March 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic was just starting to take a grip on the world and their Champions League quarter-final second-leg tie ended up being the last match played in England for more than three months, as football – like the rest of the country – was shut down.

At the time Klopp voiced his opposition to the game, which they lost 3-2 in extra-time to go out 4-2 on aggregate, as despite rates spiralling in Spain and the country going into lockdown, 3,000 fans were still allowed to travel.

“A strange 18 months or so since then really. The world turned upside down in parts,” said Klopp. “Not sure we could have imagined it that night, though I think we all had a sense that something interesting could happen to us, to society. I didn’t know to what extent that night.

“It was the one game, when I thought about it later, which I never thought about like a football game. Just in my mind, it was a really strange moment.”