Stoppage time should be renamed - Liverpool time! Van Dijk kills Atleti on Isak's debut

When it happens once, it's a pure accident. When it happens twice, it's nothing more than a coincidence. But after the fifth time, we can say loud and clear - this Arne Slot's Liverpool is one crazy gang, ready to kill you every single time in the game's dying seconds!

It happened again on Wednesday night, as the Reds celebrated a super-entertaining 3-2 home win against Atletico Madrid after a rollercoaster ride we won't forget for a long time.

We saw a shocking start, followed by a lullaby that descended into complete, anticlimactic chaos! And the hero? This time it was the Scousers' captain Virgil van Dijk!

We witnessed a frightening few opening minutes from the hosts as they stormed to a two-goal lead almost straight from the kick-off. The game was barely underway when Mohamed Salah fired a free kick from the right, which cannoned off Andy Robertson and flew over the line. Robertson made his first start of the season and was rewarded with an accidental opener.

That early shock affected the visitors blatantly, as they conceded again almost the next minute.

It was Salah's moment of brilliance, as his one-two with Gravenberch reap the dividends, as the Egyptian went past three rivals to score past Oblak for 2-0 in the fifth minute.

Interestingly, although this night should have been Alexander Isak's all over, the former Newcastle forward had a single touch on the ball in the first 15 minutes.

Unlike the Swede, Salah kept taunting the Spaniards, firing three more times superbly before the break, but it stayed 2-0 on the scoreboard. The newcomer joined him around the 40th-minute mark, yet it was Oblak again to deny the effort.

On the other hand, Simeone's gang restored some balance as time went by before capitalising on that with a late goal from Marcos Llorente, deep into first-half stoppage time.

After the restart, we didn't see too many opportunities on either end, with Isak leaving the pitch near the hour mark, as Hugo Ekitike came on. Cholo also made a couple of changes, trying to put some more pressure on the Reds' backline with Alexander Sorloth and also deploying veteran Koke in the central midfield. This attacking philosophy, however, opened various options for counterattacks for the hosts, with Salah hitting the bar after one of those.

Llorente responded on the other end with more than a decent mid-range effort, which went over the woodwork as we approached the end.

That threat didn't seem to worry the Reds too much, and it should have - Marcos Llorente stepped up a few minutes later with a banger (it did deflect off Mac Allister, though) to shockingly level the score.

And then, just as we were preparing a new headline for the shocking turnaround, another Liverpool late death left us in total shock. The team's captain, Virgil van Dijk, nailed a superb header three minutes into the stoppage time in a magnificent, striker-esque fashion to kill Los Colchoneros and make another night to remember for all those in Red.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 1

Tuesday

Athletic Bilbao - Arsenal 0-2 (0-0)

/Martinelli 72, Trossard 87/

PSV - St. Gilloise 1-3 (0-2)

/Van Bommel 90 - David 9 pen, Ait El Hadj 39, Mac Allister 81/

Benfica - Qarabag 2-3 (2-1)

/Barrenechea 6, Pavlidis 16 - Andrade 30, Duran 48, Kashchuk 86/

Juventus - Dortmund 4-4 (0-0)

/Yildiz 64, Vlahovic 68, 90+4, Kelly 90+6 - Adeyemi 52, Nmecha 65, Couto 75, Bensebaini 83 pen/

Real Madrid - Olympique Marseille 2-1 (1-1)

/Mbappe 29 pen, 81 pen - Weah 22/

Tottenham - Villarreal 1-0 (1-0)

/Luiz Junior 4 og/

Wednesday

Olympiacos - Paphos 0-0

Slavia Prague - Bodo 2-2 (1-0)

/Mbodji 23, 74 - Bassi 78, Fet 90/

Ajax - Inter 0-2 (0-1)

/Thuram 42, 47/

Bayern - Chelsea 3-1 (2-1)

/Chalobah 20 og, Kane 27 pen, 63 - Palmer 29/

Liverpool - Atletico Madrid 3-2 (2-1)

/Robertson 4, Salah 6, Van Dijk 90+3 - Llorente 45+3, 81/

PSG - Atalanta 4-0 (2-0)

/Marquinhos 3, Khvicha 39, Mendes 51, Ramos 90+1/

Thursday

19.45: (2.80) Club Brugge (3.40) Monaco (2.50)

19.45: (3.20) Copenhagen (3.40) Leverkusen (2.25)

22.00: (2.10) Eintr.Frankfurt (3.50) Galatasaray (3.40)

22.00: (1.70) Man.City (3.60) Napoli (5.30)

22.00: (3.15) Newcastle (3.50) Barcelona (2.20)

22.00: (1.08) Sporting (12.0) Kairat Almaty (25.0)

***odds are subject to change***