Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool recorded their first win of the pre-season: a narrow 1-0 success over Klopp’s former side Mainz 05. Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid beat Numancia on penalties following a 1-1 draw in regular time.
Liverpool registered their first win of the 2021/22 pre-season, following two back-to-back draws. The Reds went into the match against Bundesliga outfit Mainz 05 on the back of two 1-1 draws against Wacker Innsbruck and VfB Stuttgart. A late own goal from Mainz’s Luca Kilian was enough to separate the two teams on the evening.
Jurgen Klopp named a strong starting eleven for Liverpool’s game against Mainz, with the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Mohamed Salah, and Sadio Mane featuring. The key tactical tweak came in the center-forward position, where Klopp deployed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain instead of either Roberto Firmino or Divock Origi. While the Reds dominated possession during the first period, the breakthrough did not arrive.
Klopp made wholesale changes before the start of the second period, taking off his seasoned pros for a youthful team. The changes paid off in the 86th minute of the match when defender Luca Kilian inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net.
Liverpool will play Hertha Berlin in Austria next, before returning to Merseyside. Klopp’s team will subsequently take on Athletic Club and Osasua at Anfield before their league opener at Norwich City.
Elsewhere, Spanish champions Atletico Madrid took on Numancia in their first pre-season friendly. Manager Diego Simeone named only three senior players – Saul Niguez, Mario Hermoso, and Jan Oblak – in the otherwise experimental side, while he also gave a start to his son Giuliano.
Youngster Mario Soriano scored early on to give Atletico the lead but Numancia leveled just past the half-hour mark through Diego Suarez. Neither side was able to establish a lead during the remaining sixty minutes, and the outcome was left to be decided by a penalty shootout. Atletico won the shootout in sudden death after the two teams scored three spot-kicks each out of the first five.
