Thomas Partey Will Be Key for Atlético Madrid to Weather Liverpool Storm
As the final whistle blew at the Wanda Metropolitano three weeks ago, a cacophony of noise swept down from the stands to the pitch as Atlético Madrid defeated Liverpool.
An effervescent Diego Simeone had just about finished playing the role of chief orchestrator to shake Jürgen Klopp's hand, as most of his team gleefully slapped each other on the back. Thomas Partey, however, coolly trotted off the pitch after a commanding display, with the tie still very much in the balance.
With Thomas in a midfield double-pivot at the heart of a compact and disciplined 4-4-2, Atlético had somehow muzzled a seemingly invincible Liverpool side, denying the Premier League's champions-elect even a single shot on target.
Only his Brazilian teammate Renan Lodi at left-back retrieved possession on more occasions than Thomas' six tackles and interceptions in what would prove a famous win against Liverpool.
But the Ghana international's performance will not have turned many heads in the Spanish capital, given the consistency he has shown over the past few seasons.
As an 18-year-old playing in Ghana's second tier, Thomas impressed after a two-month trial with Atlético's Under-19 side and worked his way through the club's hierarchy. After two loan spells with Mallorca and Almería, Thomas had earned his promotion to Atléti's first team.
Two seasons of closely studying club captain and icon Gabi, who would make more than 400 appearances in midfield for Los Rojiblancos, was enough before Simeone made Thomas a regular starter in the side at the age of 24.
Only goalkeeper Jan Oblak and the versatile Saúl Ñíguez have played more minutes for Atlético than Thomas this season as the number five has adopted a slightly deeper role in midfield, contributing to their unsurprisingly excellent defence.
However, Atlético have been forced to rely upon their defensive prowess more than they would have wanted this season given the anaemic attack, on paper at least, they sit behind.
In La Liga this season, excluding penalties, Atlético Madrid have scored just 29 goals in 27 games. This paltry return ranks them as the ninth-best attack in the division and, for perspective, is a worse scoring rate than the Premier League's relegation-threatened duo of West Ham and Aston Villa.
Thomas, who is never shy about taking aim from long-range, has two goals to his name, which worryingly puts him as the club's fifth top scorer in the league this season.
However, every forward Atlético can call upon seems to be suffering from a collective loss of composure in front of goal as Los Colchoneros are creating presentable opportunities, only for their front line to pass them up.
Atlético find themselves in the top four for expected goals (xG) in La Liga and while they perhaps don't take as many shots as other sides, they create the third-best chances in the division.
While travelling to Anfield with an underperforming attack lacking confidence is never a recipe for success, Atlético do have that vital aggregate lead and perhaps more importantly, a clean sheet which denied Liverpool a precious away goal.
Atléti's rearguard, with Thomas at the heart of it, is one of the best in the business and, in a similar way to José Mourinho's treble-winning Inter side of 2010, are more than comfortable defending for long periods on the edge of their box.
Whether they'll be able to keep out this Liverpool side again, with the added difficulty of combatting the Kop's innate ability to seemingly suck the ball into the opponent's net, is an intriguing scenario which can only be answered on Wednesday night.
If they are to do it, they'll need everyone at their best with another dominant performance from the softly-spoken Thomas imperative - but whether they can count on calling upon his services next season looks more uncertain after every imperious outing.
Despite impressing both domestically and in Europe, Thomas' contract includes a buyout clause of €50m (£42m), a modest sum given the eye-watering figures bandied about the modern market.
Interest from Arsenal has already been reported with a host of European's elite monitoring the situation given the talent of the 26-year-old in question, and the bargain his acquisition for this fee would prove to be.
Yet, Thomas remains an Atléti player and a crucial one at that. While many fans of Los Rojiblancos will be watching the Champions League clash from behind the sofa, they might want to take a longer look at their industrious, intelligent and effective lynchpin in the heart of midfield, as who knows how many more times they'll have that chance.