Midfielder was both driving presence on the left and security blanket on the right in intelligent 63 minutes at Atlético Madrid
Diego Simeone was whipping the Estadio Metropolitano into a cauldron, the threat from Atlético Madrid was growing, and so Jürgen Klopp turned to James Milner for help in restoring Liverpool’s grip on a thrilling Champions League victory. Reliable and effective, as always, although that description does a disservice to another impressive and intelligent performance from the 35-year-old midfielder.
Klopp’s annoyance with Naby Keïta was clear before he replaced the £52.75m Guinea international with Fabinho at half-time. The manager and Keïta exchanged words over the gaps that Atlético were exploiting down Liverpool’s right and, despite striking a stunning volley past Jan Oblak, the midfielder’s weak challenges in the buildup to Antoine Griezmann’s two goals saw him pay with an early substitution. Klopp’s first response to the problem, however, was to replace Keïta with Milner on the right of Liverpool’s midfield three, where his strength, work rate and distribution eclipsed the contribution of the club’s former record signing.
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