Liverpool had to work this one out.
For the opening part of Wednesday night at Anfield, Atlético Madrid gave Andoni Iraola a problem Liverpool had not prepared for. The visitors changed their structure, created different passing angles through midfield and used Marcos Llorente aggressively on their right. Liverpool’s press did not initially have the right answers, and after 17 minutes they were behind.
What followed was the most encouraging part of the night for me. Liverpool changed the way they pressed, became more secure in their match ups and gradually turned the game in their favour. Dominik Szoboszlai equalised before half time, Alexis Mac Allister put Liverpool ahead five minutes after the break, and from there they managed the match well enough to begin their Champions League campaign with three points.
The numbers show Liverpool created enough to deserve the win. They had 45% possession, yet produced 14 shots, four big chances and 33 touches in the Atlético penalty area.
Atlético’s shape forced Liverpool to think
Iraola accepted afterwards that Atlético used a structure Liverpool had not seen from them this season. Llorente pushed high, Julián Álvarez and other attacking players dropped into pockets, and Liverpool found themselves caught between jumping onto the ball and protecting the space behind the press.
