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Atlético Madrid will make a quick turnaround from Tuesday’s eventful win over Napoli, as los rojiblancos will battle Liverpool’s Reds for the right to lift the Audi Cup at Allianz Arena on Wednesday night.
Atlético needed a rally in the final 20 minutes to topple Napoli 2-1. After Jose Callejón produced a stunning opener minutes before the hour, Antoine Griezmann set up Fernando Torres for a golazo and Luciano Vietto turned in a ball at the back post to hand Atleti the win. Before all that, Jan Oblak stonewalled Arkadiusz Milik from a spot kick, and at the end of the match Diego Godín was sent off for a late, unnecessary challenge on Adam Ounas - which Diego Simeone said was the right call.
Liverpool, meanwhile, eviscerated hosts Bayern Munich. Jürgen Klopp’s men were ruthless and efficient on the break, riding goals from Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah and Daniel Sturridge to a 3-0 win in the late match on Tuesday. Thus, the possibility of another Simeone-Carlo Ancelotti duel is reduced in likelihood, as Ancelotti’s side will play in the third place game against Maurizio Sarri’s partenopei.
Atlético and Liverpool met in the group stage of the 2008-09 Champions League (two 1-1 draws) and, more famously, in the semifinals of the 2009-10 Europa League. Atleti took the first leg 1-0 thanks to an early Diego Forlán strike, but Liverpool battled back to go ahead 2-0 in extra time of the second leg. Then, Forlán fired his second goal of the tie into the roof of the net - an away goal - to send Atleti to the final against Fulham.
The Audi Cup final will be a memorable one for Fernando Torres, who has the distinction of suiting up for both sides.
Can't wait to face the Reds!!!!! https://t.co/goeDgKn5bu
— Fernando Torres (@Torres) August 1, 2017
How to watch
Location: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany
Kick-off time: 20:30 CEST, 2:30 p.m. EST, 11:30 a.m. PST
SB Nation opposition blog: The Liverpool Offside
Available TV/streaming: Gol TV (Spain), ITV 4 (UK), Univision/fuboTV (US)
For more listings, head over to livesoccertv.com.
Prediction
Eh, why not? Atlético 2-1 Liverpool.