Despite Marcos Llorente scoring the opener in Atlético Madrid’s Champions League opener, goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister helped Liverpool take home all three points at Anfield.
Liverpool largely controlled the possession throughout the game, but, for the first half, Atléti were lethal on the counter and played quickly and directly when they had the ball. It’s how they scored their only goal of the match; Alvarez dropped deep, picked up the ball in the center, launched a long
dribble, and found Llorente with an incisive through-ball. Llorente cleanly converted the one-on-one against Alisson to open the scoring.
However, outside of some glimmers of brilliance, Liverpool firmly took control of the game and turned possession into goals: first a Ronald Araujo backheel to find Szoboszlai in front of goal and finally a powered long shot from Mac Allister.
Let’s get into the player ratings from Atléti’s 2-1 loss away from home against Liverpool.
Player Ratings
Oblak
Couldn’t do much about either of the goals Liverpool scored: both goals were tucked away out of his reach. He logged three saves, but he didn’t do anything extraordinary. 5
Hancko
Hancko’s night was pretty forgettable. He didn’t log any tackles but made three clearances throughout the game. He wasn’t very accurate, completing just three of his 11 attempted long balls. He largely watched Araujo backheel a pass past him towards Szoboszlai for Liverpool’s first goal. 4
Romero
The central defender in Atleti’s back three, Romero had five tackles, logged three clearances, and had an interception. He did well to frustrate Rio Ngumoha on the left-hand side and won all seven of his duels. Despite the loss, he had a decent outing. Robin Le Normand replaced him after 77 minutes of play. 5
Pubill
Struggled a lot with passing out of the back in the face of Liverpool’s high press. Picked up a yellow card after catching Ngumoha’s foot with a slide tackle in the second half. Pubill looked consistently outmatched by Liverpool’s attack and was a non-factor when it came to progressing the ball forwards. 3.5
Llorente
Llorente made the brilliant run past Milos Kerkez, got on the receiving end of Alvarez’s through ball, and cleanly slotted his effort past Alisson to open up the scoring. Defensively, he did well to limit Ngumoha on the left-hand side, but, in the buildup to Liverpool’s second goal, let Ngumoha slip by him. He was marauding on attack and pretty solid on defense. 6
Baena
He sailed two long-range attempts over the bar. Although the free-roaming Spaniard has been pretty lethal in front of goal this season, his shots were pretty inaccurate. He didn’t do enough in attack to change the tide of the game and was, for the most part, a non-factor on defense. Baena was hooked after 73 minutes of game time elapsed for Jonathan David. 4
Koke
The captain logged 53 touches, completing 37 of his 40 passes. However, he was largely a ghost in Atléti’s midfield, The 34-year-old failed to truly impose himself on the defensive end, and he didn’t complete a long ball or a cross during his 59 minutes of play. 4
Barrios
Barrios was great at breaking down Liverpool’s aggressive press and led a number of counter-attacks. When they had possession, he was confident linking up with the attack and playing them into space. Without it, he logged three tackles, two clearances, and won eight of his 12 duels. He was one of the biggest positives in Wednesday’s loss. 6.5
Giuliano
Had a quieter game. Although he showed a lot of hustle on the defensive end, his botched slide tackle helped Liverpool facilitate a counter-attack that ended with a pretty forgettable Barcola miss. He wasn’t very inspiring offensively when he got up to the advanced areas either. He couldn’t fend off Victor Munoz on the left hand side, which led to Jeremie Frimpong’s disallowed goal in the 88th minute. 4
Kang-in Lee
For his solid form in LaLiga, Lee was rather silent at Anfield Wednesday night. Even though Atleti went without possession for large stretches of the game, he still struggled to get on the ball in advanced areas and finished with just one chance created and no shots tallied. Robbed by Szoboszlai in the midfield, which eventually led to Szoboszlai’s goal a minute later. Replaced by Ademola Lookman in the 59th minute. 4
Alvarez
For all the offseason drama and questions of loyalty to Atléti, one thing hasn’t changed about Julian Alvarez, and it’s that he is pretty dang good. Alvarez played a brilliant ball to find Llorente to open up the scoring. The Argentine attacker then forced an impressive save from Alisson with a long-range, curling attempt. He was consistently dangerous in front of goal and was the biggest driving force as Atlético searched for a second goal. 6
Subs
Grimaldo
Replaced Koke in the 59th minute. He had a couple of solid passes for Atleti that created or almost created some chances, but, for the most part, he looked pretty inaccurate and exposed on defense. 3.5
Lookman
He was fairly active down the left-hand side and kept Atleti’s attack aggressive, but didn’t get on the ball a lot in the half hour he was on. He completed all 14 of his attempted passes but logged just one touch in Liverpool’s box and went 0-2 on his attempted crosses. 4
David
Making his debut in the red and white, David made a couple of interesting runs but didn’t get on the ball enough to have a meaningful impact. Totaled nine touches as he looks to assert himself among Atléti’s attackers. 4.5
Hjulmand
Hjulmand had initial struggles possessing the ball after replacing Barrios with 13 minutes of game time left. Outside of that, he didn’t have a lot of opportunity to make his mark on the game and didn’t replicate the quality Barrios had in the first 77 minutes. 4
Le Normand
Le Normand replaced Romero after 77 minutes and immediately had his hands full with Liverpool’s attack. Le Normand totaled one tackle, a clearance, and an interception but was less than physically imposing during his time on the pitch, winning just two of six duels. 4
