Klopp lauds Liverpool's nearly perfect against Atleti.

FT: Liverpool 2-0 Atletico Madrid

Liverpool secured their spot in the Champions League knockout stages with a routine 2-0 win over LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp pleased with Liverpool display against Atleti in the UCL [GETTY]

Jurgen Klopp was happy with how Liverpool beat Atletico Madrid at Anfield to book their place in the last-16 of the Champions League with two games to spare, adding that their performance against Rojiblancos was 'nearly perfect'.

The Merseyside club put in a dominant display against Diego Simeone’s team, beating them 2-0 on Wednesday night.

Strikes from forwards Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane handed Klopp’s Reds the three points that guarantees them the top spot in Group B with two games left to play.

Atleti had lots of possession in the early parts of the clash, but it was the hosts that broke the deadlock after 13 minutes via ex-Wolverhampton star Jota, who nodded in a superb cross from England international Trent Alexander-Arnold.

And, within eight minutes, the Premier League giants doubled their lead as Alexander-Arnold’s low cross was turned home by Mane.

Many would have thought Atleti would seal a comeback but it was a different story for the Spanish champions, who went down to 10 men just before half-time as referee Danny Makkelie made a horrendous decision to send off Felipe for violent conduct.

Felipe carelessly tackled Mane, but after ignoring Makkelie’s calls, the Dutch referee’s ego took over and he decided to hand the defender a straight red.

Jota and Suarez both had goals refused in the second-half following a VAR review, but the tie was already over when Simeone’s side were reduced to ten men.

A 'nearly perfect' game.

After the clash, Klopp expressed his delight while speaking to BT Sport and also said he didn’t expect his side to be through to the next stage after four games.

"In the second half, of course, that's how it is. We lost a player through injury with Roberto Firmino. People want to see more goals but we did create more chances. I think the game was nearly perfect,” the German said.

"We scored the goals in the right moments. They were much more on the front-foot with how they started than the home game but we started well. They were fantastic finishes as well, especially Sadio Mane. With the red card, well, you don't like that, you don't want to play against 10 men but in the end, it's 2-0 and it was a great night.

"The referee was [in control] but I really hate the moment when I had to take off Sadio Mane. You could see that with every challenge in the air, you don't know what could happen. I didn't like it but in the end, you have to do it.

"You earn a lot of money to win Champions League games! The first target was to get through this group. But we did it with two games to go. What can we do? We will have to see. I didn't expect we would be through after four games but the boys did it and it's really well deserved."

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