Liverpool 3-2 Atletico: Three talking points
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Liverpool edged out Atletico Madrid in their Champions League opener.
Andy Robertson opened the scoring after just four minutes as he diverted Mohamed Salah’s low-driven free kick past Jan Oblak from close range.
Salah would score in his own right just moments later after shaking off several defenders and firing into the bottom lefthand corner of the visitors’ net.
The visitors halved their deficit deep into first-half added time when Marcos Llorente prodded through Ibrahima Konate’s legs in front of The Kop.
Llorente repeated the trick in the closing stages with a sublime volley which took a slight deflection off Konate before nestling in Alisson’s goal.
But there was still one final twist as Virgil van Dijk powered home the winner by meeting Dominik Szoboszlai’s right-sided corner in the 92nd minute.
Victory saw Arne Slot’s side begin their latest campaign in Europe’s elite club competition by occupying seventh place in the league phase standings.
Here were the key talking points from Anfield:
Liverpool have done it again.
A fifth straight win in all competitions for Arne Slot’s side this season was achieved thanks to another breathless finale and last-minute winner.
For a time, it appeared that the reigning Premier League champions would prove themselves to be early birds after racing into a two-goal cushion.
Atletico Madrid had never suffered such an early onslaught under Diego Simeone, let alone in the Champions League era, prior to that first-half blitz.
Given that the visitors were the last team to taste victory at Anfield on European’s elite stage after trailing at half-time, it proved a malediction.
In what is becoming trademark style, the Reds had to rally to ensure they took maximum points against their La Liga counterparts in the game’s final throes.
Logic dictates that, at some point in the campaign, such luck will run dry.
Until then, they are continuing to ride the wave of the late, late show.
Alexander Isak’s Liverpool debut was always set to dominate the headlines.
He was not only taking his first steps as the new British record signing but also the second Swedish player to represent the club in more than 30 years.
Glenn Hysen previously held the sole distinction with his last of 93 games in the famous red shirt during a 3-0 reversal at Norwich City in February 1992.
For a player whose last competitive involvement at club level came over four months ago, there was inevitable signs of ring rust from the 25-year-old.
He did, however, begin clicking into gear towards the end of the first half with a shot across Jan Oblak’s goal that bounced narrowly wide of the target.
An almost identical effort failed to test one of Europe’s best stoppers yet he atoned with a neat one-two to tee up Florian Wirtz to round the Slovakian.
True to Slot’s word, Isak did not see out the full 90 minutes as he made way for Hugo Ekitike shortly before the hour mark, to a largely standing ovation.
But the early indications are that the new No.9 is ready to be unleashed, just in time for the small matter of Saturday’s Merseyside derby with Everton.
Even after Isak’s record-breaking move, Wirtz continues to find himself under the spotlight with a £100 million price tag that has proved an uneasy burden.
The Germany international clearly possesses the talent to warrant such a hefty fee but his early appearances had been more solid than spectacular.
At a sixth time of asking, Wirtz finally demonstrated more familiar qualities with a livewire display where he was often involved in the attacking third.
For all the scrutiny on his lack of goal involvements in the previous games, the playmaker should have registered at least two either side of the interval.
He was only denied by sparring partner Jeremie Frimpong’s miskick after he sidestepped Oblak and Mohamed Salah’s shot crashing off the woodwork.
Wirtz’s link-up play with Isak also offers hopes of a burgeoning partnership as the club’s costliest signings dovetailed regularly in the opening 45 minutes.
Slowly but surely, the 22-year-old is starting to show his true capabilities.