One of the big storylines entering Atlético de Madrid’s Champions League opener against Liverpool centered on how Atlético would handle the relentless and aggressive pressing tactics of Andoni Iraola. In the first half, Atleti did really good work to play through the press and create opportunities. So much so that Mr. Anfield himself, Marcos Llorente, scored his fifth career goal in Liverpool’s stadium after a lovely ball from Julián Alvarez.
Liverpool grew into the game though and broke through after
Atleti were dispossessed and the ball landed at the feet of Dominik Szoboszlai following some poor defending from the Colchoneros. Szoboszlai equalized for the Reds in the 40th minute, and they kept the pressure up to start the second half.
Liverpool nearly went ahead 2-1 through Bradley Barcola, but the French winger shot wide of Jan Oblak’s net. Alexis Mac Allister’s shot did not miss though, and five minutes into the second half, Liverpool took the lead.
Atlético did not do much to trouble Liverpool’s goal in the second half following a solid first half and the result is more than fair. For Atleti, it’s back-to-back away losses as Diego Simeone’s men return to LaLiga on Sunday to play Real Sociedad.
Let’s dive into some takeaways from Atleti’s first Champions League game of the season.
Groundhog Day
As I sit down and recap the match in my head, I think to myself, “What went wrong?” The simple answers are bad substitutions, poor away form, lack of creativity in attack and mental errors in the midfield and defensive lines leading to goals. Something I’m realizing is that the overarching problem with all of those “smaller” issues is that it feels like I’m writing about the same thing week after week.
For those not familiar, “Groundhog Day” is a 1993 American romantic comedy starring Bill Murray, in which a cynical television weatherman covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania becomes trapped in a time loop, forcing him to relive February 2 repeatedly.
Sound familiar?
How many times have we seen Simeone make the wrong call and either make a substitution too late or refuse to make one until the match is already too far gone?
Take the link-up between Pablo Barrios and Kang-In Lee, for one. You could argue that Barrios was, yet again, the best player for Atlético on Wednesday. It’s no secret the second half was sparse in terms of attacking opportunities, but Simeone subbed off Kang-In and Koke for Alejandro Grimaldo and Ademola Lookman.
I disagree with the idea that these changes can be made at the expense of Kang-In. This is exactly the player Atleti needed to lead the charge in the second half,
The second questionable decision was bringing on Morten Hjulmand in the 77th minute and leave him on the pitch as the only midfielder. An already-shaky midfield line is not going to be bolstered by a player who already is showing, for all his virtues in possession, that he’s not going to fix Atleti’s issues in transition.
I know it’s not fair to pin all this on Hjulmand’s shoulders, considering he entered the game late in the second half. Liverpool already had worn down Atleti to the point of positional breakdowns and mental mistakes.
You actually saw both the midfield and defensive mental lapses culminate in one play on Liverpool’s opening goal. Kang-In was dispossessed, and neither Cristian Romero nor Dávid Hancko could stop a Ronald Araújo back-heel from going through to Szoboszlai.
Finally, the creativity in attack. Atleti continue to demonstrate an inability to break through an organized, discipline defense. The secret is out and more teams continue to hand Atleti the ball, gambling that the Colchoneros will not find a goal to tie or otherwise get closer on the scoreline.
Midway through the second half, Atleti were awarded a free kick in Liverpool’s half, and Álex Baena stood over the ball to take it. Rather than playing someone through to goal or taking a long shot from that position, he elected to cross it outside the box to Giuliano Simeone, who sent the ball careening out of play for a goal kick. That can’t be the best option you have when you’re down a goal.
One of the big reasons Gabi was brought in as Simeone’s top assistant was to improve Atleti’s options from set pieces. Remember the early 2010s when Simeone sides were absolutely lethal from corners? Recently, when have you felt confident Atleti were going to do something from a corner?
Simeone needs time and patience to figure out how Atleti are going to score goals consistently. But time and patience are not qualities he ie enjoying universally anymore. Fans are growing frustrated, and results like this re no longer an exception to the rule. They have become the rule.
The good & the bad from Atleti’s Argentines
Outside of his error on the Szoboszlai equalizer, Cuti Romero was Atleti’s best defender last night. Romero was identified last summer as Simeone’s dream defensive signing, but Atleti weren’t able to secure his signing until late in this year’s window. Because of this, he was a late arrival to training and did not debut until Saturday’s match against Athletic Club.
Last night was his first start, and he certainly looked the part of Simeone’s anchor in the defense. Marc Pubill arguably had his worst match as a Rojiblanco on Wednesday, and Hancko has not been in the best form recently either. As the weeks go on and Romero gets more comfortable, I can only see his performances — and influence — growing.
Julián Alvarez made his first 2026/27 season start at Anfield, which came as a surprise given that Simeone teased his star forward would be a substitute. After a summer of drama (to put it mildly), Julián looked closer to himself on Wednesday; he assisted Llorente with a beautiful pass and went close to adding a goal of his own, only to be denied by Alisson’s acrobatic save.
It’s no secret Alvarez loves the Champions League. If he has any hope of finding his way back into Atleti fans’ good graces, then bagging goal contributions — and a lot of them — on stages like this will go a long way.
We talked about the good Argentines, but Giuliano Simeone unfortunately falls in the other category. El Cholo’s son faces increasing scrutiny over his role in the squad; he had a dismal second half and was the obvious weak link as Atleti tried fruitlessly to even the score.
While he’s a great personality and a hard worker, Giuliano’s technical shortcomings continue to let him down. He’s been tried this summer as a right-wing-back and now as a left-wing-back. Neither experiment is working out for the best.
I view Giuliano best as a substitute, someone who will give you 100 percent, non-stop energy for 20-45 minutes. What’s best for him at this moment of poor form is a shift into a substitute or a role player with an important standing in the squad, but not someone who is undroppable from the XI.
Mr. Anfield strikes again
Let’s wrap this up on a positive note and talk about how much Marcos Llorente loves playing at Anfield. So much so that he’s named one of his dogs “Anfield.”
Fun fact: Marcos Llorente has scored more goals at Anfield than the clubs below:
- Benfica
- PSV Eindhoven
- Paris Saint Germain
Everyone remembers when Llorente announced himself to the world by scoring a brace and recording an assist on Alvaro Morata’s match-winning goal just before the pandemic hit in 2020 to beat Liverpool in Anfield. He followed up that performance with yet another brace last season, in a match that Atleti eventually lost.
Many were expecting a big night from Llorente and he delivered just that by scoring from a lovely pass from Alvarez to open up the scoring in the match.
