Liverpool started quickly, scoring a pair of goals inside six minutes against an Atletico Madrid side that seemed surprisingly unprepared for the pressure the home side would try to exert from kickoff at Anfield. That early lead forced Atleti out of their comfort zone and had Liverpool feeling mighty comfortable—right up until Atleti got a late, late goal in the first half.
The second half was a much tighter affair as Atleti clawed level, but in the end all that meant was Liverpool got to do what
Liverpool always seem to do this season and score a stoppage time winner to stun their opponents. These Reds are box office (and very bad for my blood pressure). Let’s dig into it…
Winners and Losers
Alexander Isak Is A Red
Alexander Isak! Starting! For Liverpool Football Club! And some of his interplay with Florian Wirtz in particular was just spectacularly promising. None of it quite came off on this evening, but it came close on more than a few occasions, and Wirtz wasn’t the only one Isak linked up well with.
Does Isak leading the line just instantly make Wirtz click into high gear? Are Liverpool suddenly fluid and in form if he’s on the pitch and in the mix? And also does it maybe get Mohamed Salah back to his best? Or maybe did Atleti manager Diego Simeone just set things up a bit wrong in the first half?
No answers to any of those questions, really, but the football on display was very, very fun for the hour or so Isak was on the pitch. Hopefully we get to see a lot more of all that in the weeks to come.
The Gravy-Szobo Axis
Ryan Gravenberch is everywhere. Ryan Gravenberch does everything. As does Dominik Szoboszlai, while we’re at it. The consensus seems to be Gravy alongside Alexis Mac Allister is going to be the default midfield base moving forward, but Szoboszlai just seems to shine in any role he’s played in this season and Gravenberch looks maybe even in better form than last year.
That flexibility on the part of Szoboszlai might mean Alexis Mac Allister remains default first choice regardless, but it would be a brave and/or foolish person to count out the Hungarian on current form. As for Gravenberch, it increasingly feels like the only reason you wouldn’t give him Man of the Match honours in pretty much any and every match is because it’s a touch boring we should probably change it up a bit and give it to the second best, just to make things interesting.
The Officiating (Is Also Bad In Europe)
The game started with Atleti seemingly getting every sigle 50:50 call their way as the officials appeared intent on overcompensating for the Anfield crowd trying to sway them Liverpool’s way. Then, as if to make up for that, the referee tried to give Liverpool a penalty for an Atleti handball that obviously wasn’t. While VAR eventually helped rightly overturn the call, it was a very odd moment.
Things got odd again when Atleti’s first goal was allowed to stand despite an offside player clearly obstructing Alisson’s view of the shot—and then in the second half the referee ignored an Atleti handball that was about a million times more of a handball than the one he’d tried to penalize them for in the first half. For anyone hoping for better officiating in Europe than we often get in the Premier League, it was not a good night.
Thankfully, in the end the mistake in allowing Atleti’s first goal to stand didn’t make the difference.
Dissecting the Narrative
Mohamed Salah, we’ve been told, has been very quiet to start the season. In middling form. At least by his sky-high standards. Nobody’s quite come out to say it’s a problem, but it feels a bit like maybe everyone is just waiting for enough games to pass that we get to say it’s a problem. Like that’s clearly the narrative we’re all waiting on.
Oh wait a second, never mind all that. Mohamed Salah would like to remind you that, quiet opening four league games or not, Mohamed Salah is just really fucking good at football. Like exceptionally fucking good at football. So. Just the assist and goal within the opening six minutes—the fastest Liverpool have ever gone up two goals in Europe, mind. Ho hum. No big deal.
Regular service has resumed and we’re straight back to just Mo things and looking like the best player in the world (even if he really should have had his second in the 65th minute when he hit the post on what would have been an absolutely glorious finish to a blazing counter).
How Virgil Reacted to His Late Winner
“We kept trying, kept pushing after we conceded the equaliser,” said Van Dijk, whose thumping 92nd minute header off a corner won it for the Reds. “We found a way again and I’m glad I got the winner.
“They’re a team that never gives up, they have quality players that can punish you if you’re not there in a split second if you’re a little bit too late, and they punished us before the break and after the break when we were trying to make it 3-1.
“They got a bit of confidence from that as well but then we kept going and showed the resilience we’ve been showing for many years and made it another great European night here again. Today I was the lucky one with the winner and we move on.”
What Happens Next
It’s a short turnaround for the Reds with an early Saturday kickoff at Anfield against Everton in the Derby up next before a chance for Arne Slot to perhaps do some heavy rotation for Southampton in the League Cup on Tuesday. After facing Crystal Palace in the league, Liverpool’s next European action will see them heading to Turkey to take on Galatasaray on September 30th.
