Reigning European champions have crashed out of the European championship.
They were forced out of the race by Athletico Madrid Wednesday night.
Athletico had beaten the Reds in the first leg played in Spain by a lone goal, a goal margin which gave rise to hopes that the homers would overturn the lead in the return leg. That was not to be.
Playing before a huge capacity crowd who defied fears of the Coronavirus to watch the scintillating match, Liverpool cancelled Athletico’s home lead in the 43rd minute, two minutes before half time, through Wijnaldum.
Despite coming close to scoring severally in the second half, the Reds couldn’t really stamp their authority on the match.
With the clock winding down, Firmino who came in as a sub in the second half netted the second for Liverpool in the 94th minute of the tension soaked encounter.
The ovation had hardly died down when Marcos Liorente leveled scores in the 97th minute.
Loriente was on song again in the 105th minute. Waltzing through the Liverpool defence , Loriente, unstoppable and witty buried another beautiful goal which put qualification out of the reach of the home side.
Jurgen Klopp, who has taken Liverpool to soaring heights was distraught. Back home, the Reds had a runner-away-lead. Six more wins and they would be crowned English champions.
On a night that Europe beckoned, Klopp and his giants simply lacked the spirit.
Watching from the sidelines on a night that theAthletico defence stood like the rock of Gilbralter, Klopp saw as his chance to win slip through his hands.
While looking for two goals to stage a comeback, tragedy struck. Morata made it three for the visitors and completely ended Liverpool’s run for the European cup.
Liverpool who are already getting set to be crowned English premier league champs would be back next season at the topmost level of European football.