European Champions League

Atlético Madrid 1 - Liverpool 1

Atlético: Leo Franco; Seitaridis, Perea, Domínguez, Antonio López; Luis García (Agüero 46'), Diego Camacho (Raúl García 72'), Maniche, Simao; Sinama-Pongolle (Miguel 74'), Diego Forlán. 4-4-2.
Liverpool: Reina; Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Dossena; Xabi Alonso (Lucas Leiva 74'), Mascherano; Benayoun, Gerrard (Babel 60'), Riera; Keane (Kuyt 52'). 4-2-3-1.

Goals:
0-1. 14. Keane. Picked up Gerrard pass and ran on to shoot low past Leo Franco.
1-1. 83. Simao. Collected Forlán square pass and drove angled shot past Reina.

Atlético Madrid recovered from a goal down to save a 1-1 draw against Liverpool, a result which keeps them just ahead of their opponents at the top of group D. After painful league defeats against Barcelona and Real Madrid, Javier Aguirre made seven changes to his line up, giving a first start to youngsters Camacho and Domínguez. But they went behind with quarter of an hour gone when Keane collected a through ball from Gerrard and ran on to beat Leo Franco, referee Bo Larsen waving away claims for offside.

The referee was to play an important part in the game after that, booking Riera and Maniche for diving in the respective areas before the break, ruling out perfectly good goals by Benayoun and Maniche for non-existent offsides after the restart, and also pulling up Forlán for the same reason when free in front of Reina. The visiting keeper pushed an effort from Simao on to the post later in the second half, and just when it looked as if their challenge was over, Forlán collected a long punt by Raúl García to set up Simao for the equaliser.

The strike restored some pride for the brow-beaten side, but the other good news was the good behaviour by the fans, allowing everyone to enjoy the football and forget the controversy surrounding the last game against Marseille. Hopefully that is all now behind them.