The England international insists it was”necessary” for the Spanish outfit to attempt to stifle the Reds at Anfield so as to progress.
Kieran Tripper has reacted to Jurgen Klopp’s criticism of Atletico Madrid’s favorite style of play in the Champions League, insisting Diego Simeone’s”plan” worked flawlessly against Liverpool.
Atletico came at Anfield for the next leg of the last-16 experience defending a narrow 1-0 advantage in the first leg in Wanda Metropolitano.
Simeone set up his side to frustrate Liverpool once more, but Jurgen Klopp’s men pushed the tie to extra-time thanks to Georginio Wijnaldum’s 43rd-minute header.
The Reds doubled their advantage through Roberto Firmino at the first phases of this extra-time period, but Adrian mistakes talented Marcos Llorente Atletico’s crucial away goal.
Llorente then added a second before replacement Alvaro Morata rounded off a stunning comeback, as the reigning European champions exited the contest in the first knockout stage after a 4-2 aggregate defeat.
Klopp bemoaned Atletico’s defensive strategies in his post-match interview, insisting that the Spanish ensemble have enough quality in their positions to play a more expansive brand of soccer.
But, Trippier is adamant that Simeone’s approach was the best method for Atletico to conquer a Liverpool team boasting a formidable home record and bags of attacking wealth.
“If you go there and proceed toe-to-toe with Liverpool, you are going to have beat 6-0. I don’t know what people expect,” the Atletico full-back told the Mirror.
“You see pundits complaining because we did shield, but did they expect us to go there and play attacking football, particularly with Liverpool playing with the way they’re playing right now? You will need to go there with a plan and we did this.
“We did have to defend, but the main thing is that we got the win.”
Trippier added on how Atletico bided their time before capitalising on Liverpool’s loss of energy at the later phases of the competition: “We knew they would blow up due to the amount of pressure they had applied and the amount of energy they had put in the game.
“We knew they’d slow down. It took us over 100 minutes, but we won 3-2. Individuals can complain as much as they need, but we believed it was necessary for that sort of game.
“As I have got older it’s stopped bothering me. Liverpool didn’t put away their chances and we beat them in both legs. It worked and that is what football is all about.”
