A late Virgil van Dijk header handed Liverpool a nervy 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid in their opening UEFA Champions League league phase fixture at Anfield on Wednesday, Afrosport reports.
The Reds wasted no time in asserting their dominance as they were 2-0 up in the opening six minutes thanks to goals from Andy Robertson and Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah.
Atletico managed to get one back through Marcos Llorente in added time of the first half, with the scoreline remaining 2-1 in Liverpool’s favour until the Spanish midfielder equalised in the 81st minute.
Arne Slot’s men however had the last say as Van Dijk powered in a header for the winner in added time to take the three points. It was the Dutch centre-back’s 25th headed goal for Liverpool, making him the highest scoring defender in Europe’s top five leagues since he joined the Merseyside outfit from Southampton in January 2018.
The goal made Atleti coach Diego Simeone furious and was ultimately shown a red card and sent off, meaning he will serve a touchline ban for the next game against Eintracht Frankfurt at home.
25 – Virgil van Dijk has now scored 25 headed goals for Liverpool – six more than any other defender has managed across Europe’s big-five leagues since van Dijk’s Liverpool debut in January 2018. Giant. pic.twitter.com/PJEydd5ady
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 17, 2025
In other results on Wednesday, current Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain thumped Atalanta 4-0 at the Parc des Princes via goals from Marquinhos, Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nuno Mendes and Goncalo Ramos.
Meanwhile, Inter Milan were the only side to take three points on the road on Wednesday with a 2-0 win away at Dutch giants Ajax.
