Liverpool 1, Atletico Madrid 1: Reds lose 5-4 on penalties after Jordan Henderson misses in dramatic Audi Cup penalty shootout
Firmino fired home earlier spot kick to equalise in normal time after Keidi Bare header had put Jurgen Klopp's men behind
JORDAN HENDERSON missed in the shootout as Liverpool lost the Audi Cup final to the Spaniards on penalties.
Roberto Firmino took the match to spot kicks after his own controversial late penalty had cancelled out Keidi Bare’s first-half opener for Atletico in normal time.
Unfortunately for the Kop they missed the chance to win their second trophy of pre-season when skipper Henderson became the only taker in the shoot-out to miss a kick as his weak effort was easily saved by keeper Miguel Angel Moya.
Former Chelsea defender Filipe Luis then scored the spot kick that clinched the trophy for the La Liga team.
Kop boss Jurgen Klopp made nine changes to his team that beat his old club Borussia Dortmund’s bitter rivals Bayern Munich 3-0 in their semi-final on Tuesday.
Not surprisingly, as result this clash lacked the same intensity as that one.
Albanian striker Keidi Bare headed Atletico in front from in the eighth minute after Kop keeper Danny Ward had brilliantly managed to tip Angel Correa’s close-range shot up onto the underside of the crossbar.
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Liverpool had gone closest to scoring first when Dominic Solanke’s glancing header from Ben Woodburn’s inswinging cross skimmed just wide of the far post in the 10th minute.
Woodburn then chose to acrobatically volley Adam Lallana’s cross to the far post but got his angles all wrong as he fired well off the target.
Klopp made SIX changes at half time in a bid to turn the game around.
And despite being without the rested Philippe Coutinho they managed to get back into the game with just seven minutes remaining thanks to sub Divock Origi.
He went down in the box after a challenge from Gabi to earn a penalty off referee Dr Felix Brych.
He might have qualified doctor but looking at the TV replays afterwards, the whistler will have no chance of becoming an optician.
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Firmino tucked away the spot kick – but sadly for Liverpool, Henderson could not do the same in the shootout.
Earlier, hosts Bayern were booed off by their own fans after losing 2-0 to Napoli in the third-placed play-off.
The Bundesliga champions have now lost FIVE times in pre-season, putting boss Carlo Ancelotti under pressure going into German Super Cup curtain-raiser against Dortmund on Saturday.
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