Van Dijk delivers at the death as Liverpool edge five-goal thriller with Atletico Madrid
VAN THE MAN: Virgil van Dijk celebrates after scoring Liverpool's winner. Pic: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images.
All eyes were on the new £125m man but it was the player Liverpool could have signed for a fraction of that British record figure who they looked more in need of before an injury-time goal from Virgil van Dijk papered over the cracks.
Arne Slot's side surrendered a two-goal lead before a trademark towering Van Dijk header from a last-gasp corner sealed a dramatic victory on Champions League opening night as Atletico boss Diego Simeone was sent off for his protests.
Alexander Isak drew a blank on his debut, however it was the £35m the Premier League champions were unable to invest to secure the services of Marc Guehi that looked increasingly costly as defensive deficiencies were again laid bare.
A rare scoresheet appearance from Andy Robertson in addition Mo Salah's 250th goal in English football had the hosts cruising after a breathless start, but the fact England international Guehi remains at Crystal Palace means the best part of half a billion spent in the recently close window missed a key ingredient.
Isak lasted just short of an hour as he strives to rediscover a match fitness dulled by his summer strop at Newcastle. The Swede showed encouraging signs he will soon be back to his predatory best but not for the first time this season it appeared patently clear that Liverpool's problem will not be encountered in scoring goals, as their inspirational skipper proved when a draw looked on the cards.
A sign of the times perhaps as these sides met for the ninth time, but Liverpool failed to start with a single Englishman in a European game for the first time in the club's history. So it was left to a Scotsman to give them the perfect start inside four minutes as Atletico had to quickly reassess what had clearly been unambitious plans to park the bus.
Robertson knew little of his first Champions League goal for almost six years, but that mattered not as he wheeled away in celebration after diverting Salah's free-kick onto Pablo Barrios and past Jan Oblak with the back of his calf while not even looking at the ball.
The visitors had barely stepped foot in the Liverpool half when their deficit doubled two minutes after shipping Robertson's fortuitous effort.
Salah cut in from the right to swap passes with Ryan Gravenberch as he surged into the area to hold-off two defenders before confidently giving Oblak no chance from close range.
There were less than six minutes on the clock and Liverpool had never scored twice so quickly at the outset of a European fixture. As birthday presents go, Slot, who turned 47 on Wednesday, couldn't have asked for much more.
Atletico failed to heed the warning and allowed Salah to cut inside in near identical circumstances soon after. This time, surprisingly given his clinical finish for his landmark goal, the Egyptian was narrowly off target with a curling left-foot effort.
The punch-drunk Spaniards finally got a break after half-an-hour, but only in so far as it helped them not to concede a third.
To much bemusement on both sides, the assistant referee inexplicably persuaded referee Maurizio Mariani awarded Liverpool a penalty as Clement Lenglet slid in to block a Jeremie Frimpong cross for a corner. As replays suggested the ball had gone nowhere near the defender's arm, sanity was restored as Mariani thankfully saw the error of his ways by overturning the decision.
Isak spurned a couple of half chances, and could have had an assist to his name had Florian Wirtz not bottled a 50-50 with Oblak. Liverpool's wastefulness in front of goal proved costly as the visitors pulled a goal back in stoppage-time.
Giacomo Raspadori beat the offside trap to tee-up Marcos Llorente, who poked home a shot through the legs of Ibrahima Konate and into the bottom corner despite Antoine Greizmann being in an offside position directly in Alisson's line of view. It was, however, an offence VAR saw fit to ignore.
Atletico's upward curve continued after the break as Alisson was forced to beat out a fierce Raspadori at his near post after Gravenberch had allowed himself to be beaten rather too easily by the Italian forward.
A nerve-soothing third should have arrived with 25 minutes remaining when at the end of a stunning length-of-the-itch four-man counter-attack, Salah's smooth swing of the left leg propelled a shot against the inside of the post and away to safety.
That inability to kill the game off looked like it had come back to haunt Slot's men as the visitors deservedly levelled 10 minutes from time. Substitute Koke kept the ball alive in the Liverpool area, and when one shot was blocked, Llorente volleyed the loose ball past Alisson from the edge of the area with the help of a large deflection off Alexis MacAllister.
With time running out, Van Dijk timed his jump to perfection to find the bottom corner in front of the Kop to seal a rollercoaster night in the best possible way.
Alisson 6; Frimpong 6 (Bradley 58, 6), Konate 5, van Dijk 7, Robertson 7 (Kirkez 86, 6); Szoboszlai 6, Wirtz 3 (Ngumoha 75, 6), Gravenberch 6; Salah 8, Isak 6 (Ekitike 58, 6), Gakpo 4 (MAcAllister 58, 6).
Bradley.
Oblak 6; Llorente 8, Le Normand 6, Lenglet 6, Galan 6; Simione 7, Barrios 6, Gallagher 5 (Molina 61, 6), Gonzalez 5 (Pubill 77, 5); Raspadori 6 (Koke 53, 6), Griezmann 5 (Sorloth 62, 6).
Le Normand, Lenglet.
Maurizio Mariani
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