Simeone Arrives Short of Options as Iraola Begins His European Reign
Liverpool go into their Champions League opener at Anfield on Wednesday with a slight advantage already banked before a ball is kicked. Atletico Madrid are set to arrive missing two players who would normally be part of Diego Simeone’s plans, and against a manager who leans so heavily on squad depth and disruption, even a couple of absences can shift the balance of a European night.
A striker and a suspension Atletico could do without
Alexander Sorloth is the more straightforward absence. The forward is not expected to be fit in time for the trip to Merseyside, which strips Atletico of a genuine focal point up front, the kind of physical presence that can matter if the game turns scrappy in the closing stages.
Arnau Ortiz’s absence is stranger. He is serving a suspension picked up two seasons ago in the Conference League while on loan at Slask Wroclaw, sent off against St Gallen, and because he has not played in Europe since, that ban only now catches up with him. It is an unusual way to lose a squad member for a Champions League opener, but Simeone will not care how it happened, only that it has.
Anfield has been kind to Liverpool against this opponent before
The two sides know each other well enough by now, and the last meeting on Merseyside finished 3-2 to Liverpool, Virgil van Dijk heading home deep into stoppage time to end a typically frantic, typically Atletico contest. There is little reason to expect Wednesday to be any calmer.
There is also a personal landmark buried inside this fixture. It will be Andoni Iraola’s first game in charge of Liverpool in the Champions League, and facing opponents short of attacking options is about as gentle an introduction as European football offers.
Liverpool are not exactly at full strength either
Iraola’s own selection headaches have not gone away. Hugo Ekitike and Federico Chiesa remain sidelined, trimming his attacking choices regardless of who Atletico can or cannot field. Even so, confidence has crept back in after the win at Ipswich, and a European night under the lights at Anfield tends to lift a group whatever the team sheet looks like.
Atletico’s own domestic form offers little reassurance for the visitors either. Seven points from a possible twelve in La Liga, capped by Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao, is hardly the platform Simeone would have chosen heading into Merseyside.
None of this guarantees anything. Simeone’s teams have built a reputation on turning limited resources into stubborn, awkward nights for better sides, and organisation has a habit of covering for absent personnel. But with reports from Spain suggesting Atletico’s attacking issues are more than a passing knock, Liverpool will fancy their chances of a winning start to the Champions League campaign if they take their opportunities when they arrive.