Liverpool face Atlético Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday night. – England have an extra team in the tournament due to a UEFA rule that is no longer completely fresh with extra places distributed according to how the nation does in European competitions.
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Liverpool is qualified, along with Premier League winners Arsenal, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Manchester United. Atlético Madrid has with them La Liga winners Barcelona, Real Madrid, Real Betis and Villarreal. Norway “represents” the Nordic countries by Viking and Bodø/Glimt.
On our Live service you can follow all the Champions League matches.
| Tournament | UEFA Champions League, League Phase – Round 1 |
| Date | September 9, 2026 |
| Kick-off | 20:00 |
| Stadium | Anfield |
| Referee | D. Mass |
Preview
Liverpool and Atlético Madrid kick off their 2026/27 Champions League campaigns with a heavyweight clash in the league phase at Anfield on Wednesday night.
The two sides also met on matchday one last year – when Liverpool won a thrilling five-goal thriller 3-2, after Virgil van Dijk scored the winning goal in the 92nd minute.
The Reds were knocked out by eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight in April, after a 0-4 aggregate draw. Since then, however, they have scored in each of their last nine official games – netting at least twice in six of them.
Atlético Madrid suffered their first defeat in this year’s La Liga on Saturday, when they lost 3-0 away to Athletic Bilbao. Diego Simeone’s side had collected seven points from three games, but a weak second half at San Mamés led the Atlético boss to describe the result as a “real wake-up call”.
Simeone has taken the team to three Champions League finals – all defeats – but Atlético reached the semi-finals last season. They will be looking to improve their record against English teams in the league phase: just four draws and six defeats in their last ten games against Premier League clubs.
Champions League table (league phase) – You watch the whole Live.sporten.com
The table shows the score before the round starts.
| # | Teams | K | V | U | T | M+ | M- | Mdiff | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AEK Athens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Aston Villa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Atlético Madrid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Borussia Dortmund | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Barcelona | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Bayern Munich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Bodø/Glimt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … |
| 19 | Liverpool | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … |
| 35 | Viking | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Position 9–24: Playoffs.
Team news
Liverpool:
- Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endō have been left out of the Champions League squad.
- Hugo Ekitike is out with Achilles tendon problems.
- Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni are still unavailable with knee injuries.
- Joe Gomez is uncertain with a muscle problem.
- Bradley Barcola could make his first start for Liverpool – the winger has won the Champions League twice with PSG. A start could send Victor Muñoz to the bench.
Atlético Madrid:
- Alexander Sørloth is out with a thigh injury.
- Arnau Ortiz has been suspended after a red card from a Conference League match in August 2024 (when he played for Śląsk Wrocław).
- Julián Álvarez could return to the starting eleven after coming on against Athletic Bilbao.
- Jonathan David is also in the running for the striker spot.
- Cristian Romero is hoping for his full debut as a centre-back.
- Koke can come into midfield – at the expense of Morten Hjulmand or Pablo Barrios.
Predicted starting line-ups
Liverpool (4-3-3):
Alisson – Araujo, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez – Szoboszlai, Gravenberch – Barcola, Wirtz, Gakpo – Isak
Atlético Madrid (4-4-2):
Oblak – Llorente, Pubill, Romero, Grimaldo – Koke, Hjulmand – Simeone, Baena, Lookman – David
Official line-ups are usually announced 20-40 minutes before kick-off.
Recent form and statistics
- Liverpool have scored in each of their last nine official matches.
- They have scored at least twice in six of those nine games.
- Liverpool finished top of the league phase in 2024/25 and third in 2025/26.
- Liverpool have won their last six league games against Spanish opposition.
- Atlético have scored in 22 of their last 24 Champions League games (group stage/league phase).
- Atlético have only failed to score once in their last five visits to Anfield.
The match will be played at Anfield on Wednesday evening with kick-off at 20:00 BST.
Match expectation
Both teams have shown defensive weaknesses at the start of the season, so another entertaining encounter could await at Anfield. Liverpool have plenty of attacking options – especially with Barcola pushing for his first start – while Atlético have enough quality to cause trouble for any opponent.
Prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Atlético Madrid
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