Liverpool

Thursday's back pages unsurprisingly heavily feature Virgil van Dijk after the Liverpool captain's late header gave his side a dramatic 3-2 victory over Atletico Madrid in their Champions League opener.

The Mirror and Express both focus on the Reds captain leading by example to secure his side the win with a commanding header with the respective headlines 'Captain Van-tastic' and 'Captain Marvel'.

The Mail opts for the headline 'The Late Show' to reference Liverpool again leaving it late to eventually secure a win this season, while The Star also focuses on the Reds needing an injury time goal.

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

Image source, Getty Images

Alexander Isak got a taste of the attacking riches he will be surrounded by at Anfield, as Liverpool were 2-0 ahead before he even got his first touch in the famous red shirt.

Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah put Liverpool in control before a typically resilient Atletico, albeit not the Champions League force they once were, clung on by their fingertips to move within sight of an unlikely point with two goals from Spain midfielder Marco Llorente.

Liverpool were stunned, but they have form for many things this season, spurning two-goal leads against Bournemouth at Anfield and away at Newcastle United before grabbing victory late on.

Isak showed some neat touches and exciting link play before running out of steam, so he was watching from the bench as Liverpool added another chapter to the nights of Champions League drama at Anfield.

As in their four Premier League wins, Liverpool went right to the wire before winning. This time it was captain Van Dijk who was the hero with a towering header in front of The Kop deep into stoppage time.

It was the cue for more wild celebrations.

Slot will have his concerns that Liverpool struggle to hold on to an advantage, but their sheer force of will made this another late, late show at Anfield.

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Liverpool boss Arne Slot spoke to TNT Sports after the late victory over Atletico Madrid:

"If you want to beat a team like Atletico, which has an unbelievable mentality, you have to beat them with their weapon as well. That is what we showed again today - that we can beat them with mentality.

"I think we should've made it easier for ourselves. At 2-0 in the first half we got more than a few chances to make a third. At 2-1 in the second half we hit the post.

"We were so close a few times and if the margin is only one goal something can always happen and it happened. But again we showed mentality because in that 10 minutes that still had to be played, we were pushing, pushing, pushing and we scored a set-piece goal."

On if complacency crept in after going 2-0 up: "It can but it didn't happen too much with us this season that we were 2-0 up after six minutes. But it is clear that if we feel and need urgency then we are unbelievable.

"Now we need to make sure we feel this urgency for 90 minutes. Don't even look at the score just feel this urgency every second."

• Six of Liverpool's eight second-half goals in 2025-26 have now been scored from the 88th minute onwards

• For the first time in the club's history, Liverpool named a starting XI for a game in major European competition without a single English player (this was their 418th major European match)

• Rio Ngumoha became the youngest player to appear for Liverpool in a major European competition (17y 19d)

Liverpool are prepared to offer 50m euros (£43.35m) for 26-year-old Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo, although Tottenham are also interested in the Uruguay international. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

Birmingham City are keen to tie 14-year-old England Under-15 goalkeeper Alfie Smith down to new deal to fend off interest from Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal. (Mail), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

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Virgil van Dijk spoke to TNT Sports after scoring the late winner in the 3-2 victory over Atletico Madrid:

"We kept pushing for the 3-1 but to concede a massively deflected equaliser was obviously not great. We found a way again. We were dangerous in our set-pieces. They were pretty aggressive but I'm glad I got the winner.

"Atletico are a team that never gives up, with quality players that can punish you. Eventually though, we had to keep going, show resilience and it was another great European night here.

"It is always good to get a winning start playing at home in a good game against a good opponent."

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Get in touch with your views here

Come back to this page on Thursday to find a selection of your replies

The news Liverpool fans have been waiting for... Alexander Isak starts tonight.

It's his debut for Liverpool after the £125m deadline day transfer from Newcastle.

He is one of three changes from the Reds' 1-0 win over Burnley with starts too for Andy Robertson and Jeremie Frimpong, with Milos Kerkez, Alexis Mac Allister and Hugo Ekitike dropping to the bench.

Liverpool XI: Alisson, Robertson, Van Dijk, Konate, Frimpong, Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Wirtz, Gakpo, Isak, Salah.

Subs: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Gomez, Endo, Kerkez, Bradley, Mac Allister, Leoni, Ekitike, Ngumoha, Danns.

England midfielder Conor Gallagher starts for Atletico Madrid, with Antoine Griezmann named up front for Diego Simeone's side.

Atletico Madrid XI: Oblak, Galán, Lenglet, Le Normand, Llorente, Gonzalez, Gallagher, Barrios, Simeone, Griezmann, Raspadori.

There are six games in the Champions League on Wednesday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

Kick-off times 20:00 BST unless stated.

• Olympiacos v Pafos (17:45)

• Slavia Prague v Bodo/Glimt (17:45)

• Ajax v Inter Milan

• Bayern Munich v Chelsea - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Liverpool v Atletico Madrid

• Paris St-Germain v Atalanta

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Bayern Munich v Chelsea".

Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.

Liverpool are considering versatile Barcelona and Uruguay Ronald Araujo, 26, as a replacement for Ibrahima Konate should the centre-back leave for Real Madrid. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

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Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone, speaking about Wednesday's Champions League opponents Liverpool in his pre-match news conference:

"They are direct, they have very quick transitions, they interpret the game in a very simple way to get players into the box, they use their wide players and they have a wonderful centre-back who can knock the ball around.

"This simplicity of the game is something that maybe some people don't see, how hard they work, how good their footballers are and their manager did wonderful, extraordinary things last season.

"We will face a tough opponent but we have the intention of bringing the game to where we want it to go. I am looking at getting better, playing a fantastic opponent in a stadium I love.

"We will try to hurt them in the game whenever we can."

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk says new signing Alexander Isak's "quality" has been clear "since the first session" he spent with the team.

£125m British record addition Isak could make his Reds debut in Wednesday's Champions League opener against Atletico Madrid at Anfield, with head coach Arne Slot confirming there is "definitely a chance" he features.

"Very good impression, very eager," Van Dijk said about the Sweden striker in Liverpool's pre-match news conference.

"Obviously the quality he's been showing already since the first session.

"Only positives and off the pitch as well, we're having conversations - I spoke to him during the international break once everything was sorted.

"It's now about getting him as fit as possible and to understand each one of us as quickly as possible. How we train, how we press, our set pieces, so it's been a good week for him and let's see [on Wednesday]."

Van Dijk was complimentary of Isak but also stressed fellow new signing Hugo Ekitike - who has scored three goals in his first five games - was on the same level.

"He [Isak] is a clinical finisher," he added.

"If you look at his finishing skills - heading, left foot, top corners - he's the complete striker at the moment.

"You can say the same for Hugo. They're a little bit different but not so much, they're very comfortable on the ball with link-up play, they have pace and that's what's being asked of for the modern-day striker.

"Both are a handful and that's obviously good that they're on my side now."

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has been speaking to the media before Wednesday's Champions League opener against Atletico Madrid at Anfield (20:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Slot said there is "definitely a chance" £125m signing Alexander Isak could make his Liverpool debut on Wednesday as he is in the squad but he is "100% sure he will not play 90 minutes".

• Pushed on whether the Sweden striker could start, he added: "The only thing we're sure of is he will not play 90."

• Curtis Jones will return to training on Wednesday and Slot said the hope is he will be ready to face Everton on Saturday.

• On the Reds' impressive start to the season: "We are far above my expectations during the summer. We all know what happened this summer and for us to be on 12 points from these fixtures is so much more than I expected, especially after so many changes in our group. I think we can do better but we're not going to face Newcastle away and Arsenal at home every time."

• Slot said playing Atletico to begin their European campaign is "a difficult one", adding: "They have had so many years with Diego Simeone and even able to win the league twice when you face Real Madrid and Barcelona. They are a team that is a difficult one to play against because of their mentality, team performance and quality. Last time I faced them, I still wake up at night sometimes thinking about it."

• How can Andy Robertson help new left-back Milos Kerkez? "Brilliantly well. I think he played well [against Burnley]. Milos started the game not brilliantly well but well, and we had to take him off. Then you had Andy Robertson to replace him and he came in like he'd never been doing anything else."

• On Jeremie Frimpong returning from injury off the bench on Sunday against the Clarets: "In every position we have a lot of competition and he can play in many positions. Let's see if if he plays [on Wednesday] and where he's going to play."

Follow all of Tuesday's news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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Chief football writer Phil McNulty has been answering your questions on all things Premier League.

Jamie asked: Florian Wirtz's form is going under the radar a bit. For £116m, you want an instant impact. A handful of games in and he hasn't produced one standout performance yet. At what stage do we start to question his Premier League ability?

Phil answered: He has been quiet, but I actually thought there were real signs of Florian Wirtz settling in for Liverpool at Burnley on Sunday. He linked the play a lot and seemed to be developing an understanding with those around him.

It's early days and even the best players need time to settle and fit into a new team. I certainly would not be questioning his Premier League ability. I am sure he will come good and thought the signs were there at Turf Moor.

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Opta's supercomputer has Liverpool as favourites to win this season's Champions League.

The model estimates the probability of each match outcome (win, draw or loss) by using betting market odds and Opta power rankings. Both these areas are based on historical and recent team performances and the computer runs 10,000 simulations to create its predictions.

Arne Slot's side win the tournament in 20.4% of simulations and finished top of the inaugural league phase last season.

However, they were knocked out in the last 16 by eventual winners Paris St-Germain.

Image source, Opta

Slot's side are again heavy favourites to fill one of the top spots in the league phase table.

The Reds finished first in 23.9% of our supercomputer's league phase simulations, in the top four 58.9% of the time, and were automatic qualifiers for the knockout stage by finishing in the top eight in 79.5% of the time.

Opta ranks the likeliest threats to Liverpool as Arsenal (16.0%), and PSG (12.1%).