Liverpool turn crunch clash against Atlético around in sensational fashion | Goal.com

Published on 09 Sep 2026 | Reading time: 2 minutes

Liverpool opened their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win over Atlético Madrid. Andoni Iraola's side fell behind early at Anfield through Marcos Llorente, but turned the game around thanks to goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister.

Virgil van Dijk was the only Dutchman to start for Liverpool, while Jeremie Frimpong and Ryan Gravenberch came on as substitutes. Cody Gakpo missed out with a minor injury.

Inside a minute, Liverpool made a bright start and carved out a chance for Isak, who dragged wide from a Szoboszlai pass. Atlético threatened early too through Julián Álvarez. Shortly afterwards, Szoboszlai went down in the box, but referee Davide Massa rightly waved away the penalty claims.

Then, after 14 minutes, Jan Oblak denied Bradley Barcola, but the breakthrough came at the other end three minutes later. Llorente burst into the space in Liverpool's defence, got away from Milos Kerkez and coolly slotted past Alisson for 0-1.

On the counter, Atlético still looked dangerous and Alisson had to work to keep out Álvarez's long-range effort. Liverpool gradually tightened their grip and went close to an equaliser through Wirtz, only for Oblak to produce an excellent save.

Five minutes before the break, Liverpool got the 1-1 their play deserved. Oblak first stopped Barcola's effort, then Liverpool kept the move alive and Szoboszlai ran on to a clever backheel from Araujo before finishing with conviction.

Back out for the second half, Liverpool picked up where they had left off. Barcola slid an effort wide soon after the restart, but in the 50th minute Mac Allister made it count, drilling home from the edge of the box through a crowd of players and giving Oblak no chance: 2-1.

After an hour, Iraola sent on Frimpong for Barcola, and 10 minutes later Gravenberch replaced goalscorer Mac Allister. Atlético pushed again in the closing stages, but Álvarez again found Alisson in his way.

Still, Liverpool kept the upper hand in the final phase too. Frimpong thought he had wrapped it up at 3-1 from a late rebound, only for the flag to go up for offside. It stayed 2-1 and the home side held on to the three points at Anfield.

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