Mane magic and raging ref! A view of last night’s game
Apologies for the lack of a ratings thread troops, my work is getting really busy so just a quick summary of what we witnessed last night.
Attack
Lets start with super Sadio. Many (myself included) feared the decline we’d seen in Mane over the previous 12-18 months was a cause for concern however there can be no such worries with the way he’s started this season. He was just too much for Atletico, too strong, too quick, too good as he gave them a torrid first half, rounded off with a well taken goal. Unlucky to be subbed at halftime after receiving a booking but clever management from Klopp.
Well taken goal from Jota too, although the cross from Trent was simply out of this world. Unlucky to have a second ruled off for offside and must be wondering how he failed to convert Kosta’s cross, with the ball coming off his shoulder.
Midfield
After the Brighton game, I bemoaned the lack of midfield balance that the injuries had forced upon us so it was so good to see Fabinho return and Hendo to move back into his favoured position. No more was there acres of space down our right flank every time Atletico attacked. I thought Ox played really well too, powerful running and good play in tight spaces. I hope he’ll get more minutes as there’s still a good player in there. Seeing Thiago return after 6 weeks out was another welcome sight.
Defence
Much more solid look to our defence last night, although I do think that’s more to do with the midfield. Matip once again showing his class and will be gutted not to have registered an assist for Jota’s offside goal, with a beautiful through ball. Trent was magnificent and I thought Tsimikas played well too. If we could find an equivalent of him for backup RB, our defence would be without any form of weakness.
Summary
So we wiped the floor with the Spanish champions then, lessons learned from the reverse fixture and this time there was no way back for them, especially after one of the most bizarre red card incidents I can remember. The tackle itself was probably an orange card, somewhere between a yellow and a red. I suspect the ref was just going to book him but after repeatedly being ignored by the player, I think the ref lost his temper and off he went. Couple yellows dished out for others as well in a bizarre but amusing episode.
Lastly, a shoutout to Klopp who has handled Simeone’s nonsense perfectly in the build up to these games, as well as for the brand of football he’s put together. True genius.
Anyway troops, that’s it for now. We’ve absolutely romped our CL group. As we would say in Scotland, Group of death? Yer arse! Walk on!!
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