Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid on Wednesday evening may not have been a perfect performance, with a few first half structural problems highlighted by Atleti carving through Liverpool’s midfield to open the scoring, but on the whole it was a strong and encouraging evening for the Reds.
They pressed, they were aggressive, they dealt well with the setback of going down early at a point when they’d had more of the ball than their opponents, and they corrected their structural issues to the point that
in the second half it felt like there was only one team in it—and then they held their nerve.
Given the quality of the opposition, though, with Atleti on paper at least the Reds’ toughest league phase test—not to mention last season’s issues—we’re more inclined to focus in on the positives in the aftermath. Including the positive performance and game winning goal from Alexis Mac Allister.
“It was a good comeback,” the combative Argentine midfielder said following the match. “I think the first half was really good—we conceded a goal because we were not ready, we didn’t defend well. But other than that, I think it was a very good first half. Then, the beginning of the second half was also really good.
“We managed to score the second and overall it was a very good performance. That’s really pleasing, and now we have to think about the next one. I liked the mentality. We showed desire, we got the fans behind us, and that’s really important at Anfield. That’s what we want so I think it’s really positive.”
With Atleti out of the way, Liverpool’s next European fixture comes after the September international break when they head to Linz to take on Austrian Bundesliga leaders LINZ. Then they tick off Villarreal, Fenerbahce, Brugge, Porto, Inter Milan, and Lens before hopefully moving on to the knockout rounds.
There are certainly some tricky tests along the way, and any of their opponents could get a result if the Reds slip up and take them lightly, but if they can keep their performances at the level of Wednesday night moving forward there should be little reason to worry about their prospects in the league phase.
“I think we have an amazing team,” Mac Allister added. “We have quality, we have desire, we have everything to be successful—but we need to show it. If we have everyone on the same page we can do great things. I know the expectations are high but we want to meet them—we want to get trophies.”
