Liverpool travel to face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday night, the scene of their Champions League triumph 8 months ago. The reds will be hoping to repeat last season’s success in this year’s competition to make it a campaign to remember with the Premier League title all but in the bag.
The last time Liverpool faced Atletico was in 2010 in the Europa League semi-final. Liverpool lost on the night at Anfield 2-1 after extra time with a late Diego Forlan goal sending Madrid to the final against Fulham. Both teams are now unrecognisable from the ones that took to the pitch 10 years ago with Liverpool undoubtedly now the best team in the world and strong favourites to progress in the competition. But where are the players who played for the Reds in that fixture now. Here we take a look.
Manager: Rafael Benitez:
Benitez now finds himself managing Chinese Super league side Dalian Professional after spells at Inter, Chelsea, Napoli, Real Madrid and Newcastle United all since leaving Liverpool. He is now preparing Dalia for the new Chinese Super League season and has familiar names in his squad such as Salomon Rondon and Marek Hamsik.
Pepe Reina:
Reina now finds himself back in the Premier League with Aston Villa after signing in the recent January transfer window. He left the Reds back in 2013 as he was loaned to Napoli for a year before then joining German giants Bayern Munich. In 2015, he went to Napoli permanently where he played for three seasons. He then moved to AC Milan were he had an unsuccessful spell making only 3 league appearances before then joining Villa
(Picture by Danny Molyneux, under creative commons)
Glen Johnson:
Johnson has now retired from professional football having spent six years on Merseyside from 2009-2015. He made 160 appearances for the Reds before joining Stoke where he was relegated in his final season as a player. He now works as a pundit offering his insight about the game.
Daniel Agger:
Agger was regarded as one of the best defenders at the club during his time at Liverpool. He played for the club between 2006 and 2014 making 175 appearances before going back to his hometown club Brondby. He retired in 2016 and he now runs a sewer company named KloAgger alongside his brother, uncle and friend.
Jamie Carragher:
Carragher is rightly considered a Liverpool legend after playing for the club for his whole career from 1996 to 2013. Since his retirement he has worked as pundit on Sky, building a successful media career for himself.
Picture by Danny Molyneux, under creative commons
Alberto Aquilani:
Aquilani had an ill-fated spell on Merseyside failing to win over the Liverpool supporters. He left in 2012 for Fiorentina and had further spells at Sporting Lisbon, Pescara, Sassuolo and Las Palmas. He announced his retirement from playing in 2019.
Steven Gerrard:
Gerrard is one of the greatest players to ever wear the Red shirt. He played for the club between 1998-2015 before leaving for LA Galaxy where he saw out the remainder of his career. He currently manages Scottish side Rangers and has been since 2018 where he will be hoping to build a successful managerial career for himself.
Yossi Benayoun:
Benayoun left Liverpool in 2010 and had further spells in English football with Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham and QPR. He most recently played for Beitar Jerusalem before retiring in April 2019.
Javier Mascherano:
Mascherano left Liverpool controversially in 2010 for Barcelona after the club did not want to sell him. He is now reaching the end of an illustrious career and moved to Estudiantes in his home country of Argentina to see out his career.
Lucas Leiva:
Lucas quickly became a fan favourite at Anfield and is remembered very fondly by fans. He played for Liverpool for 10 years between 2007 and 2017 before moving to Lazio. He is still there now and has enjoyed a highly successful time at the club even winning their player of the year award during his first year there.
Dirk Kuyt:
Kuyt was another player Liverpool fans will remember very fondly not least for his hat-trick against Manchester United. He left Liverpool in 2012 for Fenerbahce and then went on to play for Feyenoord where he won the Dutch League title and then finished his career at amateur Dutch side Quick Boys in 2018.
Ryan Babel:
Babel was signed from Ajax in 2007 and spent 4 years at Liverpool until 2011, during that time he scored 12 goals. He most recently played in England in 2019 for Fulham and was ultimately relegated with them. He moved to Galatasaray the following season and then in January was loaned back to Ajax where he is now currently playing.
(Picture by Helen Bromley, under creative commons)
(Creative commons- Ben Sutherland)
