Liverpool were brought crashing back down to earth in the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night...by the agonies of the penalty shoot out.

Jurgen Klopp's side gritted out an uninspiring draw against wily and experienced Atletico Madrid opponents, in a game that was the antidote to the previous night's thriller against Bayern.

But skipper Jordan Henderson's shoot out miss was enough to see the Audi Cup lifted by the Spanish side, who spelt out just how tough life back at the top will be for the Reds.

In truth, this game barely got above the level of the mundane, with a much-changed Liverpool relying on their kids and fringe players to take on opponents who have twice reached the Champions' League final in recent years.

Liverpool show their disappointment as they lose on penalties (
Image:
Rex Features)
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Image:
Rex Features)

They did well enough, with Roberto Firmino's cool finish from the spot six minutes from time, after Divock Origi was tripped, enough to earn a draw, following Bare's opener for Atletico just before the interval.

But Atletico, with their teak-like defensive, smothering tactics and cynical counter-punching precisely the type of opponents the Reds are still to master, as they return to the Champions' League once more.

Here, David Maddock offers his observations

1 Classic ponderous pre-season match

After last night's two matches looked anything but friendly, with Atletico in particular showing an intense dislike for Italians, this followed the more traditional arc of the pre-season contest. That is ponderous and antiseptic. The format of the competition doesn't help though, playing two games in 24 hours means managers have to change out entire line-ups, and Liverpool were always going to play their strongest team against Bayern. That was a dress rehearsal for the start of the Champions' League, this was a chance for fringe players to shine, in an otherwise meaningless encounter.

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Image:
Liverpool FC)

2 Ward takes chance to shine

Perhaps fittingly, the man to take his chance with the firmest grasp was a goalkeeper. Danny Ward had hoped to be sent back out on loan with Huddersfield this season to gain valuable Premier League experience, and yet Jurgen Klopp prefers to keep him close at hand. The reason is because he believes his Welsh keeper has real potential, and he wants him to learn in a European environment. The Allianz Arena is a good place to start, and one first half save showed just how much he's already progressed after his year in the Championship. Ward started ahead of Mignolet tonight, and while that is unlikely to happen next week in the Premier League, he has done himself no harm.

Roberto Firmino scores the equaliser from the spot (
Image:
REUTERS)

3 Klopp sees something in Solanke

The other interesting selection, perhaps, on a night which had few moments worthy of that word, was Klopp's decision to select Dominic Solanke to lead the line ahead of Divock Origi. The Belgian picked up a minor injury earlier in pre-season, but was fit enough to come on for the last half hour here. He is a full international and a proven goalscorer, but the Reds boss clearly sees something in his young signing from Chelsea, and has given him plenty of opportunities this summer. The striker has not disappointed, and looks a good signing.

4 Simeone doesn't do friendlies

While this most very definitely WAS a training ground walk out, Atletico manager Diego Simeone didn't seem to think so. His celebration when the Spaniards scored late in the first half was almost baffling in its intensity, given the game singularly lacked that. It was as though he had been transported from a different time, a different game completely. One with something, anything at stake. It shows the passion of this manager though, and it is an interesting development in top managers, because Klopp is hardly shy either.

Danny Ward reacts after making a great save only for the opener to come from the rebound (
Image:
Bongarts)

5 Reds on the right track

In the end, this was a worthwhile work out for the Reds, given they discovered against Bayern they are encouragingly forward in their preparations, with such a massive Champions' League qualifier coming up. They simply have to get into the group stages, and so must be fit and firing by the time they enter the final preliminary round in a couple of weeks. But if there are concerns for Klopp, it must be that his squad still isn't quite deep enough for the challenges ahead, and a couple more big signings wouldn't go amiss.