Liverpool beat Atlético de Madrid in their first UEFA Champions League outing of the season. Virgil van Dijk scored a late winner as the Reds continue their last-minute traditions through the season.
The Merseysiders opened the scoreboard as a free kick deflected off Andrew Robertson ended up in the opposition net. The celebrations didn’t have any time to rest as Salah returned with a banger into the far corner within two minutes.
Diego Simeone’s men, though, weren’t gonna give up as Marcos Llorente gave them hope with two equalisers. The Spaniard pulled one back just before half-time, as the second half started with Liverpool only being one goal up.
In the 81st minute, Llorente was back again as the 30-year-old scored a volley from 20 yards out, which deflected off Alexis Mac Allister.
The final 10 minutes were the most dramatic as both sides were trying their best to leave the stadium with three points. Luckily, the Reds were awarded a corner in injury time.
Dominik Szoboszlai curved one into the box, and skipper Virgil van Dijk scored the final goal of the match, ending the 90-minute goal fest.
Surprisingly, Alexander Isak made his debut for the Merseysiders and seemed to fit well, considering his break from competitive football.
Quiz: Name the team Liverpool signed these players from in the 2010s
The clash between Liverpool fans and Diego Simeone
Diego Simeone received a straight red following an incident with the Liverpool fans (Credits: Imago Images)
Just after Van Dijk’s winner, there was another major incident that took the spotlight after the match. Atlético de Madrid manager Diego Simeone got into a fight with the Liverpool fans after the last goal.
The stewards tried to stop the former Argentine international as the Madrid staff seemed to be joining the clash as well. It was a messy situation, and the referee awarded the gaffer a straight red following the incident.
However, in a post-match conference, Simeone accepted that his reaction wasn’t justifiable. The manager also made claims about being verbally abused by the Reds fans throughout the 90 minutes.
A full-blown targeted abuse led to him losing his temper in the final minutes of the game. The third goal prompted the fan to insult him again, Simeone claimed.
Following the red card, the Summer Olympics silver medalist won’t be able to participate in the Rojiblancos’ next UEFA Champions League clash against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Simeone could face further scrutiny and fines from UEFA, and the behaviour of the Liverpool fans will also be taken into consideration.
