Liverpool, champion of 2019 dismounted by Atlético in 2020 at Anfield, regains authority and qualified this Tuesday for the round of 16 as first in group D with one match left.
He did it against Ajax (1-0), a daring rival that he received in his stadium with a defense of circumstances, without four of his five usual members.
At the last minute, he lost even the goalkeeper, Alisson, due to muscular discomfort in his right thigh.
Klopp announced that they were losing the Brazilian goalkeeper for the next two weeks, and in those circumstances, he made an unexpected decision: instead of choosing the Spanish Adrián San Miguel as before, he opted for Caoimhin Kelleher.
The 22-year-old goalkeeper had not played a match with Liverpool since last February, and it was a match with unusual circumstances against Shrewsbury Town, of League One. It was the repetition, to tiebreaker, of the fourth round of the FA Cup, and Klopp decided that he wanted to protest the excessive schedule and did not field any of the main players, but filled the field with homegrown players.
He himself did not even go to the stadium to sit on the bench, and sent a junior.
They won 1-0.
LIV
1
-
0
AA
Liverpool Caoimhin Kelleher, Neco Williams, Fabinho, A. Robertson, Matip, Wijnaldum, Curtis Jones, Henderson, Mane, Salah (Rhys Williams, min. 89) and Diogo Jota (Roberto Firmino, min. 67) AjaxAndre Onana, Perr Schuurs, Daley Blind (Lisandro Martínez, min. 85), Tagliafico, Noussair Mazraoui (Huntelaar, min. 85), Edson Álvarez (Labyad, min. 68), Klaassen, Ryan Gravenberch, David Neres (Lassina Traore, min. 80), Antony and Tadic
Goals1-0 min.
57: Curtis Jones.
Referee Tobias Stieler Yellow Cards Perr Schuurs (min. 41), Daley Blind (min. 54), Wijnaldum (min. 69), Henderson (min. 90) and Mane (min. 91)
All eyes were on what the debutant in the Champions League could do in goal, and yet the match was decided by Onana, the starter who kept the other.
Williams threw a cross from the right into the box that closed into what seemed like a no-man's-zone, near the right post.
Onana looked at the ball, raised her arms briefly, and let it out.
Only it didn't come out.
Before he reached the line, another young man from Liverpool, Jones, 19, appeared flying and scored the local winning goal as spur, which gave Klopp's men a ticket to the next round as group leaders.
Ajax, almost a finalist two seasons ago, when Anfield's men lifted the Orejona, is on the verge of falling to the Europa League.
In their group, Atalanta managed to recover from the opening goal of Midtjylland, drew and now the Italians depend on themselves to keep going.
They score a point from Ajax, which they visit next Wednesday.
City also sealed their pass to the eighth at the top of their group, C, after a draw against Porto in Portugal (0-0) that did not respond to the game or to what was generated by each of the teams.
Pep Guardiola's box shot 17 times for only five from Porto, but the scoreboard did not budge.
Although there were a couple of minutes when it seemed like he had.
Gabriel Jesús headed the net, but then the referee put his finger to his ear, where they spoke to him from the VAR room.
There they were pulling lines and exploring the position of the limbs.
After that interval, they missed that Rodri had received shortly before with one foot ahead of the line.
The match ended 0-0 and Porto will also play the round of 16.
