Adrián's error a reminder of the Champions League's fine margins, and why champions need a world-class keeper

It was a tale of the two keepers: Jan Oblak excelling;

Football is rough, man.

It took Heisenberg purity levels of Simeone-ing to flip the script on Wednesday night. And more than a touch of luck.

2-0 up. Anfield bouncing. Liverpool had finally broken through Diego Simeone's impenetrable wall to burst their way into the next round of the Champions League. Or so we thought. An Adrian error and he-should-have-done-better-with-that-shot later and it was 2-2, Atléti adding a third in added time to win the second-leg outright. Liverpool dumped from the competition and on their way to a plodding conclusion to the season -- if there's a season left at all.

Gutwrenching. It was a cruel reminder of what makes the Champions League so great and so difficult to win. A nick here, an error there and you're bounced quicker than Michael Owen from a loyalty conference.

That Llorente was the guy to essentially end this magical season is utter madness. Llorente had six senior-team goals in his entire life prior to Wednesday night. And half of those came with Real Madrid's "B" team. Has there ever been a purer distillation of Atlético’s bleep-housery than Llorente, a screening midfielder, popping up as a centre-forward to sink two past Liverpool’s sprawling keeper?

It is Adrián who will be remembered. His error for Llorente’s first sucked all the life out of a stadium that had taken on the symphonic tones of a coronation. Liverpool had the game right there, and that’s what hurts. Klopp’s team had produced a scintillating 90-minute display. Pace. Power. Energy. The ball moved slickly, the players were even slicker; Jan Oblak’s heroics keeping the team at bay for much of the game.

Atlético dug in. They were well and truly blown off the field over two halfs, caught in a tornado of red shirts. Yet they kept their poise, and took their chances when they came. A combination of Oblak's excellence, who produced the performance of the tournament so far, and Liverpool's inadequate finishing pushed the game into extra-time — giving Simeone's men more than a whiff of a chance.

The difference between Adrián and Oblak could not have been more stark. One showed resilience and perseverance, oozing confidence, even when things seemed at their shakiest. The other was a bundle of nerves, rarely involved until it mattered most.

Of the two, perhaps three mistakes, the first was undoubtedly the worst: a sloppy pass whizzed down the middle of the field, with all but one defender signalling the keeper to push the ball out to the team's left. Atleti still had plenty of work to do, though. A ball slide down the channel, a Llorente touch, then bang.

Even there, Adrián made an error. The keeper was unable to set his feet, bouncing in the air like a bundle of hyperactivity, an odd cocktail of eagerness and nervousness, so desperate was he to make up for his error a couple of seconds prior. It didn't work: a stumble, a slip, and the ball found its way into the far corner.

Source:liverpool.com