Liverpool 3 - Atletico Madrid 2

Match Day: Wednesday 17th September 2025

Scorers Liverpool:

Robertson (3)

Salah (6)

VVD (92)

Scorers Atletico Madrid:

M. Llorente (45+3'), (81)

Match Report:

They did it again, the drama continues with this team, unable to hold a lead and having to come back to win in the dying minutes.  How many Liverpool fans must suffer through this ? Its 5 games in a row that Liverpool have won all by a winning goal in the last 15 odd minutes of a game and include extra time in that assessment.

This game was different though, it felt like a Klopp era game, perhaps it was because Mohammad Salah rolled back the years with his display of speed, dribbles, scoring and assisting.  There is a belief by one youtube channel where it is said that if Salah plays 'sh*t' then the whole team looks 'sh*t', so in this case the opposite must be true as well.

The big news when the team was announced, was Alexander Isak starting, finally Liverpool fans all over will get to see what the fuss was about during the summer transfer window.  Also starting were Frimpong at right back, Robertson at left back as Kerkez was dropped, and Dominic Szoboszlai in midfield with Ryan Gravenberch as Alexis Mac Allister holds bench.  In case you are wondering - Isak starts in place of Ekitike who also has to hold bench.

There was a feeling of excitement from the Liverpool faithful, finally they woiluld see their most expensive signing in history.  Right from the start it seemed Liverpool were on the front foot with Atletico happy to defend deep.  The passing was much faster, Gravenberch seemed to glide in midfield with his swift turns, immediately getting fouled in the left of Athletico's final third.  Salah stepped up to take the free kick, and curled into the wall where Robertson stood, a slight touch of his heel directed the ball into Atletico's net, it was 3 minutes into the game.  Atletico showed no sign of early shock, they continued to defend and keep their shape despite Liverpool's dominance. But that man Gravenberch kept gliding in and a quick one-two with Salah allowed him to thread the ball into the final third near the goal, where Salah muscled his way through three players to shoot into the net, Fringpong in that same move provided the distraction with an overlapping run that has been missing in recent  games.  It was only 6 minutes into the first half and Liverpool were 2-0 up.

Atletico could no longer hold back, they started to pass the ball, and broke through the Liverpool lines a few times except for the final third where they seemed to lack a cutting edge.  Most notable was their managers son Guiliano Simone, who was causing a few dangerous moments with his dribbling, where Robertson was defending with a little help to contain the menace.  The half continued in more or less a state where both sides would take turns attacking the other, Liverpool at times seemed wasteful with their final ball.  Wirtz was having his best game in a Liverpool shirt and inter changing passes with Isak and Gravenberch with regularity, there was a quick exchange in which Wirtz carried the ball beating a few Atletico players and exchanging a pass with Gravenberch who played a through ball that Wirtz could have scored from had it not been for Frimpong chasing down the same ball and missing his shot.  In contrast Gakpo seemed to have difficulty keeping up, and kept on repeating his obvious tactic of cutting in to find a shooting position. Every time he seemed to either lose the ball or was out-muscled, falling to the ground, he was an embarrassment to tall men !!!.   In any case - as the game went into extra time in first half - the ball was played long into the Liverpool half and eventually fell to Llorente after  a Simone cross just outside of the Liverpool penalty area but in a central position.  He somehow managed to evade being pressed by both Virgil, Konate and the chasing Gravenberch to get a low shot into the right corner of Alissons goal.  There was controversy around the goal as an Atletico player was right in front of Alisson in a clearly offside position potentially blocking his view of any shot at his goal.  However, VAR did not think it was enough to block his vision so the goal stood.

The second half had people wondering - would Isak start ? remembering that Slot in his press conference had suggested Isak would be afforded 45mins of playing time.  Well he lasted another 10 minutes before Slot decided to take him, and in that time he did have a shot at goal that just went wide despite having two Atletico players in front of him.  As a first game it was obvious the quality that Isak would bring to this Liverpool team once he is fully integrated and his fitness issues are overcome.   The second half seemed to continue with both teams taking turns at attacking each other, Liverpool had good quality moments, there was a counter-attacking moment where Szoboszlai, Wirtz ,and Mo Salah were involved, as all three sprinted to the Atletico penalty area, Wirtz put in a pass to Salah that should have resulted in his first assist - but instead Salah hit the post.  The main drama of course happened when Atletico equalized in the 81st minute - and it was that man Llorente again - he seems love tormenting Liverpool.  It began when Bradley conceded a throw, which would result in awkward play that landed ht ball at Llorente's feet - who hit a volley that Alexis Mac Allister (who had been subbed on earlier) tried to lazily block with the back of his heel, but instead it deceived Alisson and deflected into the goal.  Liverpool had done the unthinkable - they had conceded two goals after by being two goals ahead for the third time this season.

At this point Atletico went back into their shell of defending again, seemingly satisfied that they would leave with a draw given the first seven minutes of this game.  Liverpool probed constantly, and as Slot made his changes in bringing on young Rio, and Kerkez to retain the ball better. There were a flurry of corners where Liverpool failed to do anything useful, but in the 91st minute - they had another corner, and Szoboszlai stepped the corner and this time a free Virgil managed to get past his man from the edge of the penalty box and connect his head to deliver a powerful header into the Atletico goal.   Liverpool's captain had got them out of jail as Anfield cheered and sang his song.  While the goal was being celebrated, the Atletico manager Simone was sent off after starting an altercation with a supporter in the stands.  Atletico in the dying moments also had a chance to equalize but their striker headed the ball straight at Alisson.  The game ended, after a full  6 minutes in extra time, the scorers strangely but yet in a surreal way were the old guard of this Liverpool team in Robertson, Salah, and Virgil - it is also a reminder to all Liverpool fans what they will eventually lose, and how much catching up the younger players have on their hands if they are to be impactful on such European nights.  

The final conclusions that one can take from this game, is that when it starts to click for Liverpool and the new signings, they will be devastating and a very scary proposition for any opposition.  There were moments in this game when the inter-passing between midfield and the attacking players was at speeds that even the best Man City team never achieved.  But there were also moments of wastefulness, and bad co-ordination between players which if avoided - then the game could have been over in the first half.  But the integration of the team is beginning to take effect, that much is obvious.