After Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur recorded wins in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday evening, Ninad Barbadikar analyses the mixed fortunes of Liverpool and Chelsea, who began their campaigns on Wednesday night.
Van Dijk secures yet another late win
Liverpool 3-2 Atletico Madrid
Arne Slot’s Liverpool found a way to win it late once again, beating Atletico Madrid 3-2 after a Virgil van Dijk header in stoppage time secured all three points at Anfield.
It was the Dutchman’s 25th headed goal for the Reds, at least six more than any defender across the top five leagues has managed, since he made the switch to Merseyside in January 2018.
After becoming the first team in Premier League history to win four consecutive matches thanks to a winning goal scored in the final 10 minutes or later last weekend, the Reds extended that streak to five matches in all competitions.
Watch all of Liverpool's late PL winners
It was Mohamed Salah who got the party started at home for the Reds, scoring and assisting within the first six minutes, leaving the visitors shellshocked, or so it seemed at the time.
With those goal involvements, the Egypt international became the first player ever to score and assist for an English club in the first six minutes of a Champions League match.
He could have had more too, hitting a post later in the second half at the end of a brilliant Reds counter-attack, while his team-mates were wasteful with opportunities which led to a tense final period in the game.
After scoring only twice in the league, with one via a penalty against Burnley, Salah’s performance was a speedy response to any concerns over his form.
His goal marked a historic achievement in the competition, with Salah now overtaking Arsenal legend Thierry Henry in the all-time Champions League top scorers list.
He has now moved into 10th place with 52 goals, and more to come.
Slot decided to give Alexander Isak a start from the off against Atletico and the Swede showed plenty in his 57 minutes on the pitch to give Liverpool fans great excitement for the season ahead.
Alexander Isak makes his @LFC debut in the Champions League 🔴 pic.twitter.com/K2ayleX1ay
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 17, 2025
In particular, his link play with Florian Wirtz was outstanding. It should come as little surprise given that both players are technically gifted.
Isak was more than a handful for the visiting defence, with his back-to-goal play as well as his speed in exploiting space in behind the backline. No goals to show for it just yet, but there’s plenty more to come.
As for Wirtz, the second half brought even more out of him, with Slot giving him the licence to create chaos from the left-hand side, which he prefers, following the withdrawal of Cody Gakpo. No Reds outfielder had more touches in the opposition box overall (seven), or created more chances (five) than Wirtz.
The final quarter of the game saw Wirtz being replaced by star Academy graduate Rio Ngumoha, who, at the age of 17 years and 19 days old, became the youngest player to feature for the Reds in European competition.
Opting to pair Dominik Szoboszlai with Ryan Gravenberch in midfield, Slot would have been happy with the performances of both players at the end of the game.
The Hungarian was happy to sit back and cover ground by winning tackles and maintaining the intensity levels of Liverpool’s counter-press. Meanwhile, his Dutch team-mate was bossing the middle of the park with his passing and especially his ability to break past incoming Atletico pressure with his rangy carries.
The manner of the victory will give the Reds great confidence ahead of Saturday’s Merseyside derby, and for their next match in the Champions League, when they travel to Galatasaray.
Impressive Palmer can't prevent Chelsea from defeat in Germany
Bayern Munich 3-1 Chelsea
Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea fell to a 3-1 loss at Bayern Munich, with the returning Cole Palmer scoring the only goal for the Blues.
Ultimately, it was the England international who was the brightest spark on the pitch for Chelsea, who often suffered under Bayern’s high-pressing style perfected under former Burnley head coach Vincent Kompany.
One of the few times they did manage to break through was for the goal, with Palmer having the space to carry all the way to Manuel Neuer’s goal and smash it past him to cut the deficit to 2-1.
After scoring against Brentford last time out in the Premier League, Palmer has bounced back from injury impressively.
Though Chelsea had multiple opportunities on the break, it was Palmer’s one that broke Bayern’s resistance.
Given the home side’s incessant pressure, Chelsea struggled to play out from the back and Robert Sanchez’s goal-kicks were often routinely gathered by the centre-back pairing of Jonathan Tah and Dayot Upamecano.
Starting centre-forward Joao Pedro was getting outmuscled in the air for those duels and found it difficult to drag the centre-backs into wide areas, where they are most uncomfortable.
The long-term injury to Liam Delap does seemingly hurt the Blues’ options up front significantly, with returning loanee Marc Guiu and Joao Pedro now the only two recognised strikers that Maresca can choose from.
No struggles for goalscorer Palmer, though, who got the better of his opposition marker in Josip Stanisic time and again. The England international had another goal ruled out for offside which would have added even more drama into the mix at the Allianz Arena.
On his 100th appearance for the club, Palmer reached 73 direct-goal involvements for the club, with 45 goals and 28 assists so far. Not only that, with his goal against Bayern, the 23-year-old became the first Englishman to score on their debut for Chelsea in the Champions League.
Going into their next Premier League encounter against Manchester United on Saturday, the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup winners will hope that Palmer’s form can inspire them to a stronger showing. Meanwhile, they host Portuguese giants Benfica next in the Champions League.