Liverpool will host Atletico Madrid on Wednesday in their return to the UEFA Champions League. One former favourite of Arne Slot may miss the clash, however.
The UEFA Champions League is back and Liverpool will kick it off with a home meeting against Atletico Madrid. The Reds felt like potential winners last season, winning the league phase and only dropping points in the final fixture.
However, their reward for finishing first was a two-legged tie with Paris Saint-Germain. It turned out PSG were actually the best team in Europe, though it took a penalty shoot-out at Anfield to settle the tie.
Liverpool will hope to go a lot further this time around, especially after spending a fortune over the summer. Their new-look squad is one built to compete on multiple fronts – something that wasn’t necessarily the case last season.
Atletico Madrid is a difficult fixture to kick-off with, though. Diego Simeone’s side have been a thorn in Liverpool’s side in Europe, of course, but they are battling some issues heading into the Anfield clash.
Atletico beat Villarreal at the weekend but now have four players with massive question marks hanging over them. The most notable is Julian Alvarez, who went off at half-time.
Robin Le Normand, Nico Gonzales and former Arne Slot favourite David Hancko are also major doubts for the trip to Anfield. Hancko, who was a regular for Slot at Feyenoord and previously linked with a move to Liverpool, rolled his ankle just seven minutes into the match at the weekend.
Speaking after the game, Simeone made it clear that time will tell on the quartet – but he doesn’t sound confident.
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