Foe
Liverpool have a tricky task on their hands in the Champions League on Wednesday as they look to overturn a deficit against Atletico Madrid at Anfield.
The Reds were beaten 1-0 by Diego Simeone's side in the first leg three weeks ago at the ground where they won last season's competition, the Wanda Metropolitano.
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Jurgen Klopp's side were neutralised well by the very organised Atletico defence but know everything about turning Champions League ties around having claimed an unlikely 4-0 victory over Barcelona in last term's semi-finals.
But Kopites will still have nightmares about the last time they faced Atleti in Europe.
They would have been wary of Diego Forlan when being drawn against Atletico in the Europa League semi-finals in 2010. The striker netted both goals in a 2-1 win for Manchester United at Anfield eight years before.
Forlan’s two-and-a-half-year spell at Old Trafford was unsuccessful though, with just 10 Premier League goals in 63 games.
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However, he is fondly remembered by United fans for his brace on Merseyside.
The song ‘he came from Uruguay, he made the Scousers cry!’ was affectionately chanted for him.
Facing Liverpool for the first time since leaving Manchester United in 2004, Forlan would have been keen to inflict more misery on them.
And he did just that.
In the semi-final first leg in Madrid, Forlan scored the game’s only goal with a scuffed effort which made its way past Pepe Reina.
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The striker got his header all wrong, but the ball fortuitously landed at his feet and allowed him a second bite at the cherry, which he refused to waste.
Despite taking a 1-0 lead to Anfield for the second leg, many people fancied a fired-up Liverpool, managed by Rafael Benitez at the time, to overturn the tie.
And it looked like Liverpool would do just that when Alberto Aquilani levelled the tie with a first-time shot a minute before half-time.
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It was 1-0 after 90 minutes, which took the game to extra-time when Yossi Benayoun put the hosts in the driving seat in the 95th minute.
His left-footed half-volley was too powerful for a young David de Gea to palm away as Anfield erupted.
However, Liverpool’s chances of reaching a third European final in six years were all but over when Forlan expertly turned in an Antonio Reyes cross on 102 minutes.
It knocked the Premier League team sideways as they were unable to create any meaningful chances in the second period of extra-time.
Despite winning the game 2-1, the Reds were knocked out by the away goal rule.
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Atletico Madrid met Fulham in the final as a Forlan brace gave the Spanish club their first major European trophy since 1962.
The first leg at Atletico's old home, the Vicente Calderon Stadium, finished 1-0 which is the same scoreline at the Wanda Metropolitano which will worry any superstitious Liverpool fan.
And Liverpool will be hoping another Premier League flop does not come back to haunt them in Alvaro Morata.
The Spain striker struggled in his season-and-a-half with Chelsea despite a fast start.
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Morata, who cost the Blues £60million from Real Madrid in 2017, netted seven goals in his first seven games for the club, but went off the boil in west London before moving back to Spain in January 2019.
He joined Atletico on an 18-month loan deal, which will be made permanent on July 1.
Since returning to Madrid, Morata has scored 14 LaLiga goals in 38 games while establishing himself as their main man following the departure of Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona.
However, Morata is facing a late fitness test to play the second leg according to Simeone so it could be the case that the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez will not need to prevent another Forlan-like incident occurring.