Liverpool rallies past Atletico at Anfield, wins 2-1 with goals from Szoboszlai and Mac Allister

Atletico Madrid took the lead at Anfield with a brilliant strike from Marcos Llorente and briefly dared to dream of pulling off an upset in the Champions League. But Liverpool responded with composure and ultimately came away with a 2-1 win, scoring once before halftime and again right at the start of the second half to flip the scoreline.

The Anfield side walks away with three points from a match that got complicated early, while Atletico leaves empty handed despite being the sharper team for a good stretch of the game.

How the scoring unfolded

The first real warning came in the 4th minute, when Julian Alvarez forced a low save from Alisson Becker. It was a sign of things to come: in the 16th minute, Marcos Llorente struck a left footed shot from outside the box that found the center of the goal, after a through ball from Julian Alvarez. 0-1, with Atletico in control of the scoreboard.

Liverpool didn't fold and grew into the game as the minutes went by. Before the break, in the 39th minute, the equalizer arrived: Dominik Szoboszlai finished with his right foot from the center of the box, low and inside the left post, after an assist from Ronald Araujo. It was 1-1 at halftime.

The decisive blow came just after the restart. In the 49th minute, Alexis Mac Allister unleashed a left footed strike from outside the area that found the bottom corner by the left post, assisted by Alexander Isak. 2-1, and Liverpool would not let go of the lead from there.

Atletico pushed in the closing minutes, with chances for Julian Alvarez, David Hancko and Morten Hjulmand, but none found the back of the net. Liverpool, for its part, had its own opportunities to extend the lead through Ronald Araujo, Alexander Isak and Victor Munoz, but also failed to convert.

The numbers behind the game

Possession belonged to Atletico Madrid, but Liverpool was more effective near the opposing box, something reflected in the number of clear scoring chances generated.

That gap in big chances, four for Liverpool against just one for Atletico, also shows up in the xG generated during the match, an in house estimate calculated from shot location: 1.984 for Liverpool versus 0.595 for Atletico Madrid. It's a sign that, beyond possession and the early goal, the home side was the one that got closer to the opposing goal with real danger.

Expectations versus reality

The pre match outlook had Liverpool as the favorite, with a 51% chance of victory, 24% for a draw and 25% for Atletico Madrid. As for expected goals before kickoff, the projection pointed to 1.97 for Liverpool and 1.34 for Atletico, for a combined total of 3.31. The final score, 2-1, ended up fairly close to that forecast: Liverpool won, as expected, though it had to come from behind to do it.

What the result means

With this result, Liverpool sits on 3 points after one match played, while Atletico Madrid remains on 0 points, also with one match played. The 3 point gap between the two sums up the night well: an evenly matched game early on that ultimately tilted thanks to the home side's response late in the first half and at the start of the second. For Atletico, it leaves the feeling of having had the match in hand for nearly an hour, only to see it slip away.