ANFIELD — You spend £250m on two forwards and then watch as your two central midfielders score the goals. You spend £250m on two forwards and the 18-year-old academy kid outshines them both on the new manager’s Champions League debut. Andoni Iraola may not have planned in this way, but you see if he cares.
This was heralded as a potential breakout night for Iraola’s Liverpool after sticky domestic duties. They were never perfect and occasionally downright disorganised. But the roars were meaningful for this early in a season, for they reflected spirit if not systemic fluidity.
That alone is worth dwelling upon, given the famous personality of their opponents on Wednesday evening. Liverpool did not gain a single draw or victory after trailing in any of their last 19 matches of 2025-26, a run stretching back to January. So far this season they have trailed twice against Newcastle, twice against Forest and once against Atletico Madrid and lost none.
Liverpool’s team was certainly attacking: three forwards plus Florian Wirtz and neither Alexis Mac Allister nor Dominik Szoboszlai are exactly gnarled, brutish midfield destroyers. It’s a lovely idea if you are able to win the ball high up the pitch, but then that’s hardly the strength of Alexander Isak, Rio Ngumoha or the waif-like Florian Wirtz. The end result is that Liverpool are frighteningly easy to pass through.
