Mohamed Salah played a key role as Liverpool claimed a dramatic 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid in their Champions League opener at Anfield.
Coming off last season’s disappointing Champions League exit, the Reds stunned their visitors very early in the opening match. Liverpool’s opener came in the fourth minute when the Egyptian forward’s free-kick took a deflection off Andy Robertson and rolled into the net.
Just two minutes later, Mohamed Salah added a second, powering past the Atletico defence before creating space for himself inside the box and placing his shot past Jan Oblak.
Later in the second half and following Atletico’s stoppage time goal in the 48th minute of the first half, Salah almost extended the lead to 3-1, but his shot hit the inside of the post. Atletico capitalized on Liverpool’s missed chances with an 81st minute equalizer.
However, as with previous games in the current season, The Reds managed to clinch a victory in the dying moments of the match through a header by Virgil van Dijk.
With his impressive contributions, Salah became the first player in history to both score and assist within the first six minutes for a Premier League club in the Champions League. Liverpool also set a new club record for their fastest-ever brace in the competition.
The 32-year-old marked his 74th Champions League appearance, overtaking Steven Gerrard as Liverpool’s all-time leader in the competition. Already the Reds’ top scorer in Europe and 10th in the Champions League’s all-time top scorers list with 52 goals, Salah has now stretched his advantage to 12 goals more than Steven Gerrard.