*Liverpool 3 Atletico Madrid 2
*Bayern Munich 3 Chelsea 1
By Will Unwin, at Anfield, and Jacob Steinberg, at Allianz Arena
It should have been a lot easier than this for Liverpool but the 92nd-minute roar to celebrate Virgil van Dijk’s winner against Atlético Madrid made the hardship worthwhile.
After scoring twice in the opening six minutes through Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah, Liverpool were galloping to victory but were pegged back by two goals from Marcos Llorente, only for their captain to head home a late corner and send Anfield wild in the process.
Diego Simeone’s side arrived with a solitary win in four La Liga games to their name and, potentially influenced by Burnley, sat deep in an attempt to frustrate Liverpool.
The Argentinian Simeone tried to make things difficult for the hosts with a traditional 4-4-2 formation, making Conor Gallagher the only English starter in the two teams in central midfield.
Discipline is all well and good but that plan went out the window when Ryan Gravenberch was clumsily tripped on the edge of the box. Mohamed Salah smashed hard and low, firing the shot against Robertson’s calf, which deceived Jan Oblak and sent an already raucous Anfield delirious in the fourth minute.
It knocked Atlético off their stride and boosted Liverpool’s confidence. If there was more than a hint of luck in the first goal, the second dripped with quality.
Once again Gravenberch was key, exchanging passes with Salah, sending the Egyptian into the box, where he took an exquisite touch and slotted under Oblak.
With fewer than six minutes on the clock, it felt like the game was over. It was the quickest Liverpool had achieved a two-goal lead in their European history.
Atlético had looked dangerous down the right and put in a number of problematic crosses but without the injured Julián Alvarez they lacked a sharpened finisher. It required a toe-poked shot from the full-back Marcos Llorente to reduce the deficit in first-half injury time.
Warnings were not heeded and Llorente, who had been promoted from full-back to central midfield, watched a looping ball land perfectly on his foot and volleyed in from 20 yards. If Liverpool enjoyed good fortune with the opener, it was Atlético’s turn as Alexis Mac Allister deflected the shot beyond Alisson to deflate the home supporters, while one small corner grew louder with a draw in sight.
But Van Dijk popped up to settle matters late on, much to Simeone’s annoyance, as he was sent off for his various protestations.
Kane Spoils Chelsea’s Champions League Return
In Munich, The Allianz Arena will always hold cherished memories for Chelsea but when they pick through the wreckage of their first night back in the Champions League, there will be plenty of moments that they would probably rather not have to think about again.
Back at the ground where they became European champions for the first time, there was the brief prospect of the team in blue pulling off another unlikely heist in Bavaria.
Yet while there was defiance after Bayern Munich went 2-0 up, Cole Palmer halving the deficit, the problems at the other end were too great for Chelsea to overcome.
There were too many mistakes from Enzo Maresca’s young side exposing their inexperience after a two-year absence from this competition, and ultimately that was always likely to prove fatal given that Bayern had Harry Kane ready to remind Premier League opposition of his ruthlessness in front of goal.
Maresca’s decision to use the formula that flummoxed Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the Club World Cup final made sense. The deployment of Reece James alongside Caicedo added ballast in midfield, freeing Enzo Fernández to push forward, and the hope for Chelsea was that Palmer could repeat his heroics against PSG from his floating role on the right.
Chelsea did not park the bus. They had poise in possession and a plan to probe at Bayern’s high line. Gusto was an attacking outlet from right-back and the opening goal beckoned when Fernández burst on to a pass from Palmer, only for Konrad Laimer to make a crucial intervention.
Chelsea needed no introduction to Olise given that they twice tried to sign him from Crystal Palace. Knowing about the winger’s threat is not the same as knowing how to combat it, though.
The marking had to be tighter when Joshua Kimmich played a free-kick out to Olise in the 20th minute. Instead João Pedro was left on his own against the Frenchman, who breezed round the outside before firing in a cross that Trevoh Chalobah turned into his own net under pressure from Dayot Upamecano.
Chelsea lost focus. They were in trouble after a mix-up on the left. Caicedo had given away the free-kick in the buildup to the opener and he was soon at fault again, clambering all over Kane as the England captain looked to turn in the area.
It seemed the contest was over when Kane made it 2-0 by beating goalie Robert Sánchez with a cool penalty. Chelsea, though, have tasted adversity in this stadium before. The response came from Caicedo winning possession off Olise. Suddenly, with Jonathan Tah colliding with João Pedro on halfway, Palmer was surging through the middle.
A one-two with Gusto followed, leaving Palmer to mark his 100th appearance for Chelsea and his first for the club in this competition by clipping a lovely finish into Manuel Neuer’s net.
Olise ought to have been furious with himself for finishing so casually. No matter. With Kimmich and Aleksandar Pavlovic restoring calm in midfield Bayern raised the tempo again and Chelsea cracked when Gusto did the worst thing a defender can do: give the ball to Kane in your own area.
This time there was no reprieve. The finish was pure Kane: composed, impossibly smooth, utterly deadly. Yet Chelsea’s wounds were self-inflicted. Gusto lay on the turf, aghast with himself. It was a long way back now.
Bayern had too much nous. Chelsea faded. This was not a disastrous performance but they will have to be sharper in defence when they host Benfica in their next game.
PHOTO CAPTION: Liverpool’s Salah (in red) scoring tonight.
Results Of Other Matches
Olympiacos Piraeus – Pafos 0:0
Slavia Prague – Bodo/Glimt 2:2
Ajax – Inter 0:2
PSG – Atalanta 4:0
