Liverpool player ratings, winners and losers vs Atletico Madrid as Van Dijk and one more excellent

ANFIELD, LIVERPOOL // Liverpool kicked off its European campaign with another late goal in a season of late winners. Against Atletico Madrid, Alexander Isak made his debut and Mohamed Salah impressed, with Virgil van Dijk the hero.

Inside six minutes, Liverpool had a two-goal lead and looked to be cruising. First, the ball ricocheted off Andy Robertson from a low Salah free-kick, leaving Jan Oblak stranded. Then, Salah got in on the act himself, calmly finishing after a one-two with Ryan Gravenberch.

Marcos Llorente pulled one back just before half-time, though, and set up what was a slightly nervy second period. Liverpool looked to be edging towards seeing the result out, before the Spaniard got his second, setting up Van Dijk to power home.

Winners

Robertson did reasonably well and staked a claim for the weekend's game with Everton, while this was Salah's best performance of the season to date.

Liverpool looked fluid and flowing in attack in the first half and didn't give much away in defense either. That changed in the second half, so it is a case of putting it all together now. At some point, a late winner wasn't going to be possible.

Isak, meanwhile, pressed well and looked relatively sharp in the circumstances. Nothing can be decided at this stage of the group phase, but this was a good start for the Swede in a Liverpool jersey.

Losers

With the game at 2-2, no one would have really lost out here, though Liverpool made harder work of it in the second half than it looked like would be the case just a few minutes into the game.

Both teams still have another seven matches in which to pick up more points, and Diego Simeone's side didn't do too badly considering it was missing star man Julian Alvarez. It would have been happier than Liverpool with a point, as Simeone showed with his sending off.

Player ratings

Alisson Becker (7). The Brazilian barely touched the ball on his last appearance and it wasn't that much different here. He could do nothing with the goals that beat him and collected some crosses well.

Jeremie Frimpong (6). Chosen ahead of the fit-again Conor Bradley after his cross won the penalty against Burnley a few days ago, the Dutchman was steady if unspectacular. That is a pretty 50:50 battle for a spot in the team and it will be fascinating to see how it unfolds across the course of the next few months.

Ibrahima Konate (7). Strong in the tackle and front-footed when it came to winning his duels, the Frenchman put in a good display. Another positive step in the right direction.

Virgil van Dijk (8). Typically solid and good reading of the game. He was proactive when attacks started to build, guiding the rest of the Liverpool defense into position. He popped up with yet another late winner.

Andy Robertson (7). In ahead of Milos Kerkez after the Hungarian was hooked before half-time at Turf Moor, the Scotland captain was solid and energetic. He scored (though he didn't know much about it) and did enough to keep his spot ahead of the derby.

Ryan Gravenberch (8). His excellent start to the season continued here with another fine showing. The Liverpool number six was driving forward from the base of midfield and snapping into tackles. He just oozes class in possession, and offers so much more beyond that too.

Dominik Szoboszlai (6). Back in a more familiar midfield position, the former RB Leipzig ace made a couple of wrong decisions on counter-attacks but his energy was vital again. He has contributed more at times but this was a solid performances.

Mohamed Salah (7). His best performance of the season to date. The Egyptian scored early with a nicely taken goal and was lively after that. He loves a big occasion and rose to it to put his side in the ascendancy, even if he was quieter second half.

Florian Wirtz (6). Still getting up to speed with his new club after a big-money move this summer, Wirtz showed some more flashes of what he can do, but nothing consistent. A couple of times, his final pass should have been better directed. More than a couple of times, he just needed to be a little stronger or quicker to the ball.

Cody Gakpo (7). The Burnley game wasn't his finest performance but Gakpo was much improved here. He was more direct and, of course, has played a lot with Robertson behind him before. That seemed to help.

Alexander Isak (7). Making a first competitive start in 115 days, the Swede looked relatively sharp in the circumstances. He's still getting up to match fitness and learning how his teammates play, but there were promising signs. There was a notable determination to press and work hard.

Substitutes

Hugo Ekitike (6). There were a few flicks and tricks from the French striker and he settled into the game well enough, though he should have scored. Having not started here, you would imagine that he will be back in the starting XI in Saturday's early kick-off.

Conor Bradley (6). A couple of misplaced passes from the Northern Irishman, but he was solid enough. A steady performance but little more down the right-hand side.

Alexis Mac Allister (6). He might have picked up a nasty injury at Burnley but was fine to be involved here. He kept things simple in the middle of the field and was neat and tidy.

Rio Ngumoha (6). At 17, he was trusted to play 20 minutes or more off the bench in the second half. He was confident enough to throw in a couple of stepovers, but didn't have loads of space to play in.