EUROPE’S Champions League knockout stages finally kicked off this weekend, and were fans in for some real stunners.
All of the four matches didn’t churn out the “expected” results, that is if you were rooting for the favorites or more familiar names.
German side Borussia Dortmund edged French champions PSG, 2-1, while Italian club Atalanta routed Spanish side Valencia, 4-1, both at home.
And then there was RB Leipzig, another underrated German club, silencing the London crowd with a 1-0 escape against hosts Tottenham Hotspur.
But the first to suffer a schocker in the Round of 16 was defending champions Liverpool, which lost to Atletico Madrid, 1-0, at the Spanish club’s home ground, the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
Ironically, the same stadium in Madrid, Spain was where Liverpool defeated Tottenham, 2-0, in last year’s final.
What would have been a nostalgic moment of return at Wanda Metropolitano turned into a nightmare for The Reds.
The visitor’s horrific evening in Madrid began early in the match when Atletico’s Saúl Ñíguez sent the ball into the back of the net in the fourth minute, following a mad scramble in the box off a corner.
Saul’s heroics resulted in the lone goal of the match, but it was enough to give Diego Simone’s side the win, and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool plenty to think about. Atletico weren’t glowing in the group stages, winning three, drawing one, and losing two, but last Wednesday they played like a champion-caliber team.
Liverpool might have held most of the ball -- an astounding 73 percent possession rate -- but it proved ineffective against Atletico, which defended with grit and countered with menace.
Of eight shots Liverpool made, none were on target. Those numbers speak volumes about the kind of preparation Atletico made against the champions of Europe.
That for me is a feat in itself, considering that Liverpool looked invincible this season, especially in the domestic front where they are undefeated. Liverpool is 22 points clear ahead of its closest challenger, Manchester City, which means the Merseyside club is poised to become runaway champions.
That would also give Liverpool its first ever domestic league title in the Premier League era.
The last time it won a top-tier domestic league title -- its 18th -- was 30 years ago.
A treble with an FA Cup win and back-to-back Champions League titles might not be far behind, an achievement that would complete Liverpool’s resurgence as “the greatest” English club ever.
But following Liverpool’s loss, questions have now been raised whether the club has peaked too soon, putting its European quest for glory in jeopardy. Prior to Wednesday’s game, the last time Liverpool lost was in September, 2-0 to Napoli, in its first game in the Champions League group stage.
That means Liverpool has lost only twice this season, both in Europe.
Unless, of course, Atletico makes that three in the return leg on March 12 in Anfield.