‘Liverpool freaked out against Atletico’ – Llorente reflects on Champions League heroics at Anfield

Liverpool “freaked out” in their Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid, says Marcos Llorente, with the Reds having “millions of chances” before being dumped out of Europe in extra-time.

The Reds’ last outing before the coronavirus lockdown saw them lose their grip on the prestigious continental crown.

Diego Simeone’s Atletico side arrived at Anfield looking to defend a narrow one-goal advantage established on home soil in Spain.

Liverpool turned the tie on its head, with Roberto Firmino firing them 2-0 in front of the night after 94 minutes of action. Jurgen Klopp’s side then suffered the most dramatic of collapses, with costly errors from goalkeeper Adrian contributing to their demise.

Llorente netted twice for the Rojiblancos in the space of eight minutes, before Alvaro Morata completed the scoring in the dying moments.

Having conquered the continent in 2019, Liverpool have been left licking their wounds 12 months on.

Llorente told Marca of his experiences in a dramatic contest: “They started to put us in a position to attack and with the second goal we knew we had no choice but to go forward. They had millions of chances and I think they believed they had done enough with the goals, but with our reaction they freaked out.”

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Llorente snatched a priceless away goal for Atletico within three minutes of Firmino sending Anfield into raptures. He found the target again before the break in extra-time, with Liverpool left with a mountain to climb.

Llorente, as a holding midfielder, is hardly renowned for his prowess in the final third of the field, with the 25-year-old admitting that fortune favoured him on Merseyside.

He added: “On the first goal I lost the ball and squeezed the goalkeeper, who gave us the ball back. In the second, when Morata gave me the ball I looked behind and nobody was with me. I took the shot, I'm not used to being in those situations!”

The high of dethroning Liverpool has been countered by the low of an enforced break during a global health crisis, with no decision having been taken as yet regarding the resumption of Champions League competition.