Liverpool come back to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 in Champions League opener

Marcos Llorente gives Atleti an early lead but Liverpool strike back through Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister.Alexis Mac Allister made his case for an improved Liverpool contract no harm with the winner as head coach Andoni Iraola got off to a winning Champions League start by beating Atletico Madrid 2-1.Mac Allister expressed his frustration at not being offered a new deal on the eve of Wednesday’s match, but responded by blasting home from the edge of the box to cap Liverpool’s comeback.Marcos Llorente had given Atletico an early lead before Dominik Szoboszlai levelled the score before half-time.Victory came at a cost for the Reds, though, as new signing Bradley Barcola limped off with a calf injury.For the first time three players who cost in excess of 100 million pounds ($135m) were named in the same side as Barcola made his Anfield debut alongside Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz in the Liverpool attack.Isak fired just wide after a purposeful break by Szoboszlai in an energetic start by Liverpool in the first Champions League game of Iraola’s career.But in their desperation to pour forward, the Reds left themselves wide open to the counterattack.Atletico were humbled 3-0 by Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to cap an underwhelming start to the season by Diego Simeone’s men.Julian Alvarez’s future has cast a cloud over Atletico on and off the field for the past few months after his desire for a move to Barcelona was steadfastly rejected by the club’s hierarchy.The Argentinian was handed his first start of the season and cut open the Liverpool defence for the opening goal.Llorente – who named his dog Anfield after scoring twice in Atletico’s last 16 win over Liverpool in 2020 – raced onto Alvarez’s pass to score his fifth goal in three visits to Anfield with the Spanish side.Barcola’s first startOnly a brilliant save by Alisson Becker denied Alvarez from long range before the Liverpool fightback began.