Liverpool beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 as Bradley Barcola suffers cramp on full debut

Comeback win at Anfield

Liverpool started their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, 9 September. Atletico opened the scoring in the 17th minute when Julian Alvarez broke through the midfield and delivered a pass to Marcos Llorente, who beat goalkeeper Alisson. The goal was Llorente's fifth Champions League strike at Anfield, accounting for half of his ten career goals in the tournament. Atletico threatened again in the 26th minute when Alisson parried a long-range effort from Alvarez. Liverpool countered through Dominik Szoboszlai, who equalized in the 40th minute. Five minutes into the second half, Alexis Mac Allister scored the decisive goal with a strike past Jan Oblak, before Jeremie Frimpong had an 89th-minute goal disallowed for offside.

Barcola features before premature exit

Winger Bradley Barcola made his first start for Liverpool after completing a transfer from Paris Saint-Germain valued between £123 million ($166.6 million) and €145 million. The 24-year-old French forward showed his defensive work rate with a recovery run into his own penalty box in the eighth minute. In attack, Barcola forced saves from Oblak in the 15th and 40th minutes, but missed the target on a one-on-one chance in the 49th minute. Just before the hour mark, Barcola pulled up while sprinting down the right wing and sat on the turf holding his left calf. He walked off the pitch without needing a stretcher and was replaced as the coaching staff evaluated his condition.

Iraola eases injury concerns

Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola confirmed after the final whistle that the substitution was precautionary and resulted from muscle cramps rather than a muscle tear.

No, it is just cramp. With Bradley, it is about building his physical condition. We didn't know until now, probably, how much he can play.

Barcola had not played pre-season minutes with PSG during transfer talks and had only featured for 30 minutes as a substitute against Ipswich Town on Friday. His previous competitive appearance before joining Liverpool came at the 2026 World Cup with France. The substitution comes nine days before France head coach Zinedine Zidane announces his national squad on 18 September. Iraola also confirmed that left-back Milos Kerkez was substituted due to cramps, while Cody Gakpo missed the match due to abductor issues.

Tactical workload and group stage results

Liverpool face Fulham in the Premier League in two and a half days, leaving Iraola to assess whether Barcola and Gakpo can participate or if players such as Rio Ngumoha and Victor Munoz will step in. In other Champions League action, Arsenal earned a 1-0 away victory over Napoli courtesy of a 75th-minute goal by Martin Odegaard. Arsenal had late opportunities to extend their lead when Noni Madueke and Christos Tzolis missed chances in the 86th minute. The win marked Arsenal's 13th consecutive victory in the Champions League group phase, following eight wins in eight league-phase fixtures last season.