1 hour ago
21
Liverpool began its Champions League campaign with a victory over Atletico Madrid in dramatic circumstances at Anfield on Wednesday, as Virgil van Dijk scored a late header to secure a 3-2 victory.
When Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah scored early on in the game, it looked as though the Reds were heading for a routine victory, but a Marcos Llorente brace at Anfield meant the scores were level heading into second-half stoppage time.
Van Dijk's strike means Liverpool has scored winning goals beyond the 80-minute mark in each of the team's last five games in all competitions after victories against Bournemouth, Newcastle, Arsenal, and Burnley.
Van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch received high ratings for their performance on the night from Spanish outlet Marca, which gave the pair the highest ratings of Liverpool's players on the night, giving them three stars out of four — a mark which was also handed to Atletico's Llorente.
Another Spanish outlet, AS, made reference to Liverpool's summer spend and said that, although the Reds are relying on late goals to win at the moment, it won't be long before Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak start truly firing and securing some more routine victories.
"It's well known that no club has spent more money than Liverpool this summer," it said. "The 500 million euros invested by the Reds, but not so much the more than 200 million raised, have been in the news ad nauseam.
"Logically, they've outdone themselves at Anfield, breaking the Premier League transfer record twice. First with Wirtz and then, as the icing on the cake, with Isak.
"136 and 150 million euros respectively. However, the signing that has performed best to date is the Scouser Virgin of Miracles. One wonders how long will Liverpool be able to sustain this?
"Even so, by the time the Reds have used up all their 'lucky bullets,' Wirtz, Isak, and company will already be shining as expected."
As for Mundo Deportivo, it focused on another memorable evening at Anfield for brace-getter Llorente, who also scored twice as Atletico knocked Liverpool out of the Champions League in 2020.
"If he scored two goals in 2020, he scored two more in 2025," it said. "The first came as a full-back, and the second, as a central midfielder.
"In the 81st minute, a ricocheted shot from Barrios ended up being converted by a volley from the number 14 that touched Mac Allister to make it 2-2. Once again, Llorente unleashed a madness on all Atletico fans at Anfield.
"But injury time was still to come, the period in which Liverpool have won almost all of their matches this season.
"And then Van Dijk emerged, firing in a corner to punish Atletico and keep the three points at home."
English (US) ·