Marcos Llorente scored after seventeen minutes at Anfield and Atletico Madrid did what Atletico Madrid do. They dropped, they narrowed, they made the pitch feel about forty yards long. Liverpool needed until the fortieth minute to get level and until five minutes after half time to win it.
Final score 2-1. Fourth win in a row for Liverpool over this opponent. Andoni Iraola's side have now beaten Atletico in the Champions League in consecutive seasons, which is not a run many clubs in Europe can claim.
Szoboszlai Broke the Wall Before the Break
The equaliser mattered more than the winner. Going in 1-0 down against a Diego Simeone team is a very different second half from going in level, and Dominik Szoboszlai's finish on forty minutes spared Liverpool that conversation in the dressing room.
Atletico had more of the ball. They finished with fifty-five per cent possession and 473 completed passes, both higher than Liverpool. None of it did much. Liverpool had sixteen shots to their eight, seven on target to four, and seven corners to five. Possession without penetration is a familiar Atletico away-day trade and it did not pay off here.
Mac Allister Picked the Right Moment
The winner came in the fiftieth minute, the Argentine arriving in the box at the precise moment Atletico's back line had stopped tracking runners from deep. Liverpool have spent well over two hundred million pounds this summer on new attacking players and it was one of the men already there who settled it.
Anfield on a Champions League night still does something to opposition defences. Atletico held out for the last forty minutes without ever looking like scoring again.
Iraola's Start Is Turning
The Basque took a lot of criticism for a slow opening few weeks, and the questions about whether his Bournemouth methods would transfer to a squad of this size were not unfair. Last Friday's 2-0 win at Ipswich answered some of it. Beating Atletico answers more.
Liverpool host Fulham at the weekend. A settled team is beginning to appear.
Match facts: Liverpool 2-1 Atletico Madrid, UEFA Champions League league phase matchday one, Anfield, Wednesday 9 September 2026. Goals: Llorente 17 (Atletico), Szoboszlai 40, Mac Allister 50. Possession: Atletico 55%. Shots: Liverpool 16, Atletico 8. Liverpool have won each of the last four meetings between the clubs.
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