Liverpool made hard work of what should have been a routine start to their Champions League campaign on Wednesday night, beating Atletico Madrid 2-1 at Anfield.
Andoni Iraola’s side fell behind in the first half before turning the game around after the break to secure all three points in their opening European fixture.
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Marcos Llorente opened the scoring in the 17th minute, racing onto a pass from Julian Alvarez before lifting the ball over Alisson to give Atletico the lead.
Liverpool responded five minutes before half-time. Ronald Araujo flicked the ball into the path of Dominik Szoboszlai, who took a touch before finding the bottom corner.
The victory, however, came at a cost, with Bradley Barcola forced off after appearing to suffer a calf problem on his first start since joining Liverpool from Paris Saint-Germain.
Iraola was quick to play down the issue, insisting the French winger was only suffering from cramp.
“It’s just cramp, there is no injury. With Bradley, it’s about building his physical condition,” the Liverpool head coach said.
Barcola had not featured in pre-season for PSG and had played only 30 minutes for Liverpool before Wednesday’s Champions League appearance, meaning the club are carefully managing his workload.
Cody Gakpo was absent from the squad against Atletico after picking up an adductor issue during Liverpool’s victory over Ipswich Town.
Iraola confirmed that the Netherlands international does not have a serious injury but admitted his chances of featuring against Fulham on Saturday are only “50-50”.
“He doesn’t have a proper injury in terms of it being bad, but he did finish [the last game] with niggles in both of his adductors,” Iraola explained.
“We expected to have him for this match but it hasn’t been possible. It isn’t a big thing, but the problem is we play here again in two and a half days.”
Gakpo’s potential absence would add to Liverpool’s growing list of fitness concerns ahead of Fulham’s visit to Anfield.
Joe Gomez is another player nearing a return after missing the campaign so far with a muscle injury suffered during the 4-2 pre-season win over Sunderland on July 26.
Iraola said Gomez is the closest of Liverpool’s injured players to returning to action, with the defender expected to begin training with the first-team group next week.
“The closest one is Joe. Joe will probably start training with us next week, and it has gone normally,” Iraola said.
Federico Chiesa also remains sidelined after suffering a lower-back injury during pre-season. The Italian forward has yet to feature this season but is expected to return to training around the October international break.
Hugo Ekitike remains a long-term absentee after rupturing his Achilles against PSG in April. Liverpool are not putting an exact timeline on his recovery, with Iraola previously confirming that the striker’s return will come later than the September/October international break.
The Reds are also continuing to manage longer-term issues involving Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni.
Bradley has been recovering from the serious knee injury he suffered against Arsenal in January, leaving Liverpool to use Ronald Araujo and Jeremie Frimpong as options at right-back.
Meanwhile, 19-year-old centre-back Leoni remains on the rehabilitation path after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury on his debut in September 2025.
Iraola said earlier this month that the plan was for Leoni to begin training with the group during the international break.
With Fulham arriving at Anfield just two and a half days after the Atletico Madrid victory, Liverpool will now have to assess several players before Iraola finalises his squad for Saturday’s Premier League fixture.
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