Atletico Madrid beat Liverpool on penalties in Audi Cup final

Getty Images

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Getty Images

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MUNICH -- Liverpool were beaten on penalties by Atletico Madrid in the final of the Audi Cup to end what was essentially a successful week in Germany.

Liverpool had won five and drawn one in their summer warm-up fixtures prior to the midweek encounter at the Allianz Arena, but suffered defeat when Jordan Henderson was the only player to miss in the shootout.

The match finished 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes as Atletico Madrid were ahead for a large portion after Keidi Bare's 33rd-minute opener, but Liverpool equalised late on thanks to Roberto Firmino's penalty.

Jurgen Klopp's side now have one more friendly before they kick-start their season away to Watford on Aug. 12 and then play the first leg of their Champions League playoff.

Klopp rung the changes for the conclusion of the preseason tournament and rested Philippe Coutinho, Mohamed Salah, Dejan Lovren and Alberto Moreno after the win over Bayern Munich 24 hours earlier. Emre Can and Sadio Mane were the only players to find themselves in the starting XI for both games.

After Atletico beat Napoli 2-1 on Tuesday in a feisty affair, which saw Diego Godin sent off, Klopp hoped the following match would "calm down" because his side "wanted to play a bit." Both teams started with incredibly high levels of intensity and pressing, while three of Liverpool's players picked up bookings in the opening 45 minutes.

Chances were few and far between in the first half, but Atletico grabbed a slender lead just after the half-hour mark.

Danny Ward, starting in goal for Liverpool for the first time since April 2016, was unfortunate that his world-class save to deny Angel Correa rebounded off the crossbar straight to Bare, who nodded in from close range.

With a lead to hold on to, Diego Simeone's well-drilled outfit were difficult to break down, despite Liverpool introducing Firmino, Divock Origi and the pacey Ryan Kent in the second half.

However, Liverpool levelled seven minutes from time through Firmino's spot-kick after Origi was adjudged to have been tripped up by Gabi inside the penalty area.

The late equaliser meant the match would be settled with a shootout, and Atletico emerged 5-4 victors when Filipe Luis netted the match-winning penalty.

Liverpool will head back to their Rottach-Egern base before concluding their preseason schedule on Saturday against Athletic Bilbao in Dublin.