Liverpool made a winning start to their 2026-27 UEFA Champions League campaign, with Alexis Mac Allister’s goal enough to see off Atlético Madrid.
Liverpool‘s unbeaten start to life under Andoni Iraola continued as they began their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 comeback win over Atlético Madrid.
Liverpool have won each of their last four Champions League games against Atlético, and they were deserving victors here.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Liverpool vs Atlético Madrid stats from their UEFA Champions League meeting at Anfield on Wednesday 9 September 2026.
Of all the players to score 10+ UEFA Champions League goals, Marcos Llorente is the only to score at least 50% against a specific opponent (5/10 vs Liverpool).
Liverpool made a winning start to their 2026-27 UEFA Champions League campaign, with Alexis Mac Allister’s goal enough to see off Atlético Madrid.
Liverpool‘s unbeaten start to life under Andoni Iraola continued as they began their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 comeback win over Atlético Madrid.
Marcos Llorente‘s incredible scoring streak at Anfield rolled on when he put Atlético in front, only for Dominik Szoboszlai to level things up just before the half-time whistle.
Alexis Mac Allister struck the decisive blow in the 50th minute to get Liverpool over the line, though an injury to £123m signing Bradley Barcola somewhat soured the victory.
Anfield was on its feet after just 15 seconds when Szoboszlai won back possession from kick-off before offloading to Alexander Isak, who fired wide of the left post.
Julián Alvarez then forced Alisson Becker into his first save before Barcola, on his first start since joining from Paris Saint-Germain, exquisitely took down Szoboszlai’s ball down the right channel and fired at Jan Oblak from a tight angle.
But it was Atlético who got themselves in front in the 17th minute after carving through Liverpool’s defence, as Alvarez’s pass caught Milos Kerkez napping and allowed Llorente to steal in and finish.
Alisson was then at full stretch to tip Alvarez’s shot from distance behind, but Liverpool levelled five minutes before half-time through Szoboszlai, who rolled past Oblak after collecting Ronald Araujo’s sensational flick inside the box.
Liverpool completed the turnaround within five minutes of the restart when Mac Allister thundered a left-footed drive into the net just moments after Barcola had fired just wide following a blistering counter-attack led by Florian Wirtz.
Barcola was then forced off with an injury after pulling up off the ball, and his departure helped Atlético grow into the game, but after Alvarez was found in space on the edge of the box, his tame shot was easily gathered by Alisson.
The hosts were able to weather that storm and looked more likely to score in the closing stages, but Isak’s shot was blocked by Robin Le Normand, with Araujo then flicking a Szoboszlai corner just wide of the far post.
Liverpool thought they had their third a minute from time when Jeremie Frimpong tucked home after Víctor Muñoz’s shot was saved, but the Reds were able to hold on for all three points for the five minutes of additional time.
Anfield Nemesis Llorente Silenced by Szoboszlai and Mac Allister
Having played three games in the Champions League in 2014-15 for Athletic Club, Iraola was experiencing UEFA’s flagship competition from the sidelines for the first time, and he was able to oversee a winning start, though it was anything but easy.
And there only seemed to be one player who would have their say for Atlético. Only Robert Lewandowski against Crvena Zvezda (six) and Cristiano Ronaldo against Ajax (six) have scored more goals away from home in the Champions League against a specific side than Llorente’s five against Liverpool.
But Liverpool have their own Anfield hero in Szoboszlai. His 10 goal involvements in the Champions League since the start of last season (six goals, four assists) are double that of any other Liverpool player, while he now has three goals and three assists in his last six home outings in Europe.
There was also an impressive midfield display from Mac Allister, who is a player reborn under Iraola after a difficult 2025-26 campaign. Five of his 20 goals for Liverpool in all competitions have come from outside the penalty area, while no player won more duels than the Argentine’s five.
Liverpool have won each of their last four Champions League games against Atlético, and they were deserving victors here. They finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.68 from their 14 shots to their opponents’ 0.81 from their nine attempts.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Liverpool vs Atlético Madrid stats from their UEFA Champions League meeting at Anfield on Wednesday 9 September 2026.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Liverpool 2-1 Atlético Madrid: Post-Match Opta Facts
After winning just one of their first six meetings with Atlético Madrid in major European competition (D2 L3), Liverpool have won each of the last four occasions.
Liverpool have won their opening match of a UEFA Champions League campaign on five of the last six occasions (L1), while Atlético Madrid have lost their opener in each of the last two seasons, as many times as in their first 15 campaigns (W8 D5).
In UEFA Champions League games that Atlético Madrid have scored the opening goal, this is just the second time in the last 14 occasions that they’ve lost (W10 D2), having also lost 2-1 to Bodø/Glimt in January last season.
Andoni Iraola enjoyed his first win over Diego Simeone in his managerial career having failed to win any of his four prior encounters in LaLiga in charge of Rayo Vallecano (D1 L3).
Dominik Szoboszlai has 10 goal involvements in the UEFA Champions League since the start of last season (6 goals, 4 assists), double that of any other player for Liverpool.
Five of Alexis Mac Allister’s 20 goals for Liverpool in all competitions have come from outside the penalty area, only Dominik Szoboszlai (12) has more for the club since his debut in August 2023.
Of all the players to score 10+ UEFA Champions League goals, Marcos Llorente is the only to score at least 50% against a specific opponent (5/10 vs Liverpool).
Only Karim Benzema (7) has scored more goals against Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League than Marcos Llorente (5), all coming in his three appearances at Anfield.
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