Liverpool suffered their first defeat of pre-season as they lost to Atletico Madrid in a penalty shoot-out in the Audi Cup final on Wednesday evening.

Roberto Firmino levelled from the spot late on after Divock Origi was felled, contentiously going down belatedly, to cancel out Keidi Bare's first-half headed opener in Munich.

But Jordan Henderson missed his shoot-out spot-kick, allowing Atleti to take the lead after two penalties. It was an advantage they didn't relinquish, winning 5-4 to win the biennial tournament.

The Reds, who had won five of their previous six friendlies, now take on Athletic Bilbao in Dublin on Saturday before turning their attentions to a Premier League opener away at Watford a week later.

Atleti, meanwhile, travel to England to face newly-promoted top-flight outfit Brighton & Hove Albion this Sunday before kicking off their La Liga campaign at Getafe next Friday.

Changes aplenty for both sides

Jürgen Klopp made nine changes to the starting eleven that thrashed Bayern Munich 3-0 the previous night, with only Sadio Mané and Emre Can keeping their places. 

Philippe Coutinho, Mohamed Salah, Dejan Lovren and Alberto Moreno were all rested while goalkeeper Ward came in for his first outing in a Liverpool shirt in 15 months.

Atletico boss Diego Simeone made wholesale changes from the strong side that overcame Napoli on Tuesday, with former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres and talisman Antoine Griezmann both starting from the bench.

Solanke and Woodburn go close 

Opportunities were sparse for either side in a cagey first-half as Atleti's second-string showed the defensive organisation and resilience of Simeone's strongest side. 

Dominic Solanke - one of Liverpool's stand-out performers across the whole of pre-season - flicked a header just wide from Ben Woodburn's whipped cross into the box from the left early on.

The 17-year-old went close himself when meeting Adam Lallana's dinked cross into the back post with a flying scissor kick volley, though fired a few inches wide of the far post under pressure.

Keidi Bare heads in Atleti opener

Atleti had done little to trouble Ward in Liverpool's goal, but the opener came shortly after the half-hour mark. Augusto Fernández's cross-field pass found Šime Vrsaljko to square for Correa in space.

But with the goal agape, Correa saw his attempt superbly saved by Ward - who managed to push the shot up on to his crossbar - only for the ball to rebound kindly for 19-year-old Bare, unmarked, to head in from a few yards out.

In response, Klopp made six half-time changes and introduced captain Henderson, Firmino, Marko Grujić, Ryan Kent, summer signing Andrew Robertson and Joël Matip.

Those changes almost had an immediate impact, Solanke controlling Henderson's low ball towards the edge of the box although Lucas Hernández stood in the way of his shot after the England youth international turned towards goal.

Reds equalise from the spot through Firmino

Liverpool struggled to pose much threat despite stepping up the tempo, Robertson's cross sliced wide by José Giménez before Klopp introduced both Ovie Ejaria and Divock Origi on 63 minutes.

The Reds saw more of the ball with Atleti content to sit men behind the ball and condense the space, swarming Liverpool players once the Merseyside outfit forced possession into dangerous areas.

Grujić should have done better from Firmino's flick in one of Liverpool's only second-half openings, though fired well over the crossbar from 20 yards before Origi drilled into the side-netting on the turn.

But in the closing stages, Origi was brought down inside the box - though going down late after Gabi's contact - and Firmino stepped up to the spot to send Miguel Ángel Moyà the wrong way.

Henderson sees penalty saved as Atleti win the Audi Cup

Liverpool battled to find a winner but Ward had to make a fine reaction save to deny Hernández after the defender had peeled in front of his marker. From the following corner, ex-Manchester City centre-back Stefan Savić then hooked just over.

Up the other end, Robertson dragged a fierce left-footed effort just wide - which meant that the winner had to be decided by a penalty shoot-out.

From the spot, Henderson was the only player of 10 to miss and Filipe Luís struck the decisive fifth attempt for Atleti to win the tournament, becoming only the third different side to do so after Bayern and Barcelona.

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About the author
Charlie Malam
Digital Sports Writer at the Daily Express. First-class Staffordshire University Sports Journalism graduate. Formerly VAVEL UK's Liverpool FC editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Contributor since June 2014.