Liverpool qualified for the last-16 of the Champions League and guaranteed top spot in Group B with two games to spare after a 2-0 win over ill-disciplined Atletico Madrid, who had Felipe sent off in the first half
Trent Alexander-Arnold spearheaded a typically fast start from Jurgen Klopp's team, providing the assists for Diogo Jota to open the scoring on 13 minutes and Sadio Mane to tap home eight minutes later
Unlike the previous meeting in Madrid, there was to be no reaction by Diego Simeone's men as Felipe was shown a straight red card on 36 minutes for a foul on Mane
 It was unclear whether the defender was sent off for the foul or for dissent after refusing to acknowledge being summoned by the referee Danny Makkelie
Liverpool somehow failed to extend their lead after the break with Joel Matip and Jota missing glorious chances while the returning Luis Suarez had a goal chalked off by VAR for offside, to the delight of the Anfield faithful
Liverpool are now unbeaten in 25 games in all competitions (W18 D7), stretching back to a 3-1 loss at Real Madrid in last season's Champions League quarter-final first leg
 It equals the Reds' unbeaten record as a football league club set between March and September 1982 under Bob Paisley
Just like in the Wanda Metropolitano a fortnight ago when Liverpool came away 3-2 winners, Klopp's men dominated early on and were rewarded with a 13th-minute goal
Alexander-Arnold provided the whipped-in, low cross and Jota delivered the stooping, close-range header
Alexander-Arnold, for the first time in his career providing multiple assists in a single Champions League game, was also the creator of the second in the 22nd minute
Mane was at the heart of this goal with his direct running opening up the visitors' defence
 Alexander-Arnold then had the space to fire in another wonderful cross that was expertly finished by Mane
It means the Reds have scored two or more goals in 15 of their 16 games in all competitions this season, the exception being the 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Anfield on August 28
Liverpool had found themselves in a similar position a fortnight ago only to squander a two-goal lead before snatching back victory, although the difference this time was Atleti were without their suspended two-goal hero from that night Antoine Griezmann
Similar disciplinary problems were on show yet again though from the Spanish champions when Felipe kicked across the back of Mane's leg as he tried to launch a counter-attack
 Referee Makkelie deemed the offence worthy of violent conduct as Felipe was shown the red card - a decision perhaps influenced by Felipe's unwillingness to acknowledge the referee when being called to him
Unlike at the weekend against Brighton, there was no sign of the chances drying up in the second half and Joel Matip's brilliant through-ball deserved a goal but Jota's cool finish in lots of space was ruled out for offside by VAR
Mohamed Salah and Matip should have scored but both contrived to fail from close range
Liverpool almost were made to rue those wasted opportunities when Suarez's strike deflected past Alisson Becker off Matip but that goal was also ruled out for offside on review
The positive of Thiago getting his first minutes since mid-September was tempered by the loss of Roberto Firmino, who limped off after replacing Mane, who had been booked, at the break
This fourth win from four games allows Klopp some much-needed breathing room in Europe as, with a seven-point cushion in group B, he can now afford to rest key members of his squad in the final two games against AC Milan and Porto
Is there a more deadly partnership down a right flank in world football than Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold? It's enough to give opposition left-backs sleepless nights
 West Ham's Aaron Cresswell is the next man tasked with stopping them on  and this will have been gruesome viewing for the Hammers defender
Alexander-Arnold had hardly had a sniff of action for the first 12 minutes but all it took was one caress of his right boot to ignite himself into the match
 The cross for Diogo Jota to head home was made to look simple from the playmaking full-back but not many in the world could have delivered it with such precision and pace
 He wasn't done there either, grabbing a second assist eight minutes later when finding Sadio Mane with what looked a more of a shot than a cross
 But in reality, it's hard to tell such is the type of creative artillery Alexander-Arnold possesses
Since the start of the 2018/19 season, only Kevin De Bruyne (51) has more assists among Premier League players in all competitions than Liverpool's world-class creator-in-chief (44)
It's a scary proposition to think all of Liverpool's key players are playing some of the best football of their careers
 No wonder their unbeaten run currently stands at 25 matches
Alexander-Arnold told BT Sport: "Me and Mo have got a really good understanding
 It's quite natural
 We're told to be flexible, not just stay in set positions to create confusion for the opposition
 That's what we do
 We need to get on the ball and create things
 And with the form our front players are in, it's about getting the service into them
 That's what I did today
"Liverpool boss : "In the second half that's how it was [controlled and calm]"We have had an incredible schedule and even with controlling the game we lost a player with injury, Bobby Firmino
"I can imagine people wanted to see more goals but we created still many chances, we scored a goal that was disallowed, we had incredible chances in front of goal like, 'wow, how could we miss them?'"So I think the game was nearly perfect, like we want to have it
 We scored the goals in the right moments
"They were much more on the front foot than they were in the home game, how they started
 But we defended that well and then two incredible balls from Trent
 Fantastic finishes as well, especially Sadio's one
 I think Diogo will expect from himself that he'd finish that off
 But Sadio keeps the ball, passes to the outside and is then greedy enough to get into the box and finish that situation off
"Then with the red card, we don't like that, we don't want to play against 10 men
 But then you have to be careful
 They scored their goal and I don't know exactly how it was offside, I didn't understand it 100 per cent
 But in the end it's 2-0 and a great night
"Liverpool travel to West Ham on Super Sunday in a bid to keep up their scintillating start to the Premier League season
 Atletico take on Valencia on Sunday in La Liga
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