Liverpool 3-2 Atletico, Captain’s Clincher at Anfield

Anfield Index post-match podcasts and articles - Out Now

Sep 17, 2025

They said it wouldn’t last

Liverpool were not tidy, not controlled, not safe. But they were alive. Furious, flawed and full of intent. Again they left it late, again they refused a draw.

At 2-0, it looked easy. Salah sharp, Isak a magnet for defenders, Wirtz finding his feet, the whole team playing with flow. Then they let go. Atletico, all cynicism and ego, grabbed at the gaps. Liverpool let them. Poor shape, soft in midfield, suddenly level. Simeone sneering.

But this is where Liverpool live. When it is loud, when it is wild, when the game is slipping. They do not fold. They press harder. They take the fight back.

Van Dijk’s winner was yet another statement to encapsulate this team. Late goals are not fortune, they are habit. This team believes, even when control has gone. Especially then.

Yes, there are flaws. The midfield is still uneven. The defence is too generous at times. But there is something building. Gakpo had a poor night, but Isak was already creating space where none should exist. Wirtz is learning fast. Salah, like that t-shirt he once wore, never gives up.

What this team has is edge. Character. That quiet certainty that one more chance will come, and they will be ready when it does.

Atletico came to disrupt, to dig in, to drag Liverpool down into the muck. But when it got messy, they were the ones who panicked. Simeone lost it. His players lost shape. The result slipped through their fingers.

This might not be sustainable. But it is real. It is repeatable. It is Liverpool. They believe, and that belief is enough to beat you.

Again.