Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid was decisive soccer moment before world changed forever
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Liverpool’s meetings with Atletico Madrid rarely pass by quietly, but few fans who arrived at Anfield for their meeting in 2020 could have imagined what sort of effect the game would have - and not just for both clubs.
The two sides do battle once again at Anfield on Wednesday as the Champions League returns, with Arne Slot’s side aiming to make the perfect start to this season’s league phase and make the first step toward the final in Budapest.
Much of the focus ahead of this latest meeting surrounds Alexander Isak’s potential debut.
Having lost the first leg 1-0 in Madrid in February, Liverpool took on Atletico in the return leg nearly a whole month later, and with the global landscape well on the way to its most significant event in decades.
In between the two games, Covid-19 had spread rapidly.
Sporting events across Europe were being dramatically impacted, especially in Italy, which had become the epicenter for the virus on the continent.
The same day that Liverpool hosted Atletico, Arsenal’s Premier League game against Manchester City was postponed after several of the Gunners’ squad went into self-isolation, while Valencia’s Champions League game against Atalanta was played without fans, with La Liga games being moved behind closed doors.
Yet, very little changed in Liverpool.
A fan wears a face mask in light of the growing Coronavirus concerns during the Champions League match between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid at Anfield in 2020.
Atletico Madrid's players celebrate after Marcos Llorente scores in extra time
The true cost of that night against Atletico though was yet to truly be discovered as, less than two weeks later, a national lockdown was announced across the UK, with the whole world effectively brought to a standstill.
By the end of March 2020, Liverpool had become a hotspot for the virus, with the city holding one of the highest suspected number of cases in the country, and the game against Atletico was suspected to have been one of the main factors in that.
Indeed, a subsequent investigation found that it was one of two major sporting events in the UK that week, along with the Cheltenham Festival, that “caused increased suffering and death” due to the virus.
Serious questions have been asked since about why the game went ahead, or why, at the very least, supporters were not prevented from attending.
As Liverpool and Atletico meet once again, this time in very different circumstances, the game will nevertheless bring back some painful memories of what transpired thereafter across the world, and a situation in Liverpool that could - and should - have been avoided.