Virgil van Dijk on Wednesday scored a dramatic late winner to grab Liverpool a 3-2 UEFA Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid, while Paris Saint-Germain launched their title defense by thrashing Atalanta BC.
Elsewhere, Harry Kane scored twice as Bayern Munich downed Club World Cup winners Chelsea 3-1 as Pafos and Bodo/Glimt marked their Champions League debuts with hard-earned draws.
Liverpool, with club-record signing Alexander Isak on debut, raced into a two-goal lead inside the first six minutes as Atletico struggled to get out of their own half on Merseyside, before eventually erasing the deficit.
Photo: AP
However, Arne Slot’s English champions have won all four of their opening Premier League games of the season with winners inside the last 10 minutes. This time it was skipper Van Dijk who produced the big moment with an excellent header from Dominik Szoboszlai’s corner in the 92nd minute.
“We found a way again... Glad we got the win,” Van Dijk told TNT Sports. “Today I was the lucky one with the winner and we move on.”
Atletico manager Diego Simeone was shown a red card after a confrontation with Liverpool fans following Van Dijk’s goal.
Photo: EPA
Simeone appeared enraged by a Liverpool fan behind the technical area and was eventually sent down the tunnel by Italian referee Maurizio Mariani.
Afterward he said he had endured insults for 90 minutes.
“There have been insults all match, but hey, I’m the one who has to stay calm and endure everything: insults, gestures, etc,” he told Movistar. Liverpool “been talking about putting on a good show, but they insult you all match from behind and you can’t say anything, because I’m the coach.”
Photo: Reuters
PSG got their first Champions League campaign as reigning European champions off to a flying start with a 4-0 win over Atalanta in Paris.
Captain Marquinhos tapped into an empty net in the third minute, before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who was an injury doubt in the buildup, crashed home a fine second for Luis Enrique’s men six minutes before halftime.
Atalanta never looked likely to stage a comeback, and Nuno Mendes added a third not long after the restart, while substitute Goncalo Ramos rounded off the night with a dinked finish in stoppage-time.
Photo: AP
Inter, who were humbled 5-0 in last season’s final by PSG, started their league-phase campaign with a 2-0 away win against Ajax.
Earlier, Bodo/Glimt marked their debut in the Champions League proper by coming back from two goals down late on to draw 2-2 at Slavia Prague.
Cypriot club Pafos, playing in the tournament for the first time just 11 years since being founded, claimed a goalless draw at Olympiakos.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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