LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 17: Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool celebrates after scoring the third and winning goal during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD1 match between Liverpool FC and Atletico de Madrid at Anfield on September 17, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
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The clock had ticked past 90 minutes when Liverpool won a corner. Anfield urged their players to make it count, as much to save face as anything else.
Arne Slot’s men had been 2-0 up and coasting, on course for a routine home victory to start the 2025/26 Champions League campaign against Atletico Madrid.
Then inexplicably, it fell apart, and two goals were conceded.
Just as in the opening game of the Premier League season, the Reds were on course for an embarrassing draw, having held a two-goal cushion.
But a calm Dominik Szoboszlai stepped up and whipped in an arching corner to the penalty spot where a statuesque Virgil van Dijk was waiting.
The Dutchman brushed off his marker and met the ball with his head. It arched into the corner of the net, and Anfield erupted.
Van Dijk stuck his tongue out and pressed a finger to his ear. He was enjoying the moment, but there was a sense even in celebration of the relief.
Speaking after the game, the Liverpool captain said as much.
“We try, we kept pushing for the 3-1. We concede the equaliser, massively deflected. It was not great.
“We found a way again. We were dangerous in our set-pieces anyway; they were pretty aggressive, I must say. I’m glad I got the winner.
“They’re a team that never gives up, they have quality players that can punish you if you’re not there in a split second, if you’re a little bit too late, and they punished us before the break, and after the break, we try to go for the 3-1.
“They get a bit of confidence from that as well. But we have to keep going and show the resilience we’ve been showing for many years and it was another great European night here again.”
BURNLEY, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 14: Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates after scoring a goal to make it 0-1 during the Premier League match between Burnley and Liverpool at Turf Moor on September 14, 2025 in Burnley, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
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The last-minute escape followed a week that ended when a penalty converted by Mo Salah deep into injury time secured a victory against Burnley.
That result followed a late winner at home to Arsenal and, of course, the last-gasp recovery against Bournemouth in the first week of the Premier League.
In fact, six of Liverpool’s eight second-half goals in 2025-26 were scored from the 88th minute onwards.
Some other players were concerned that this has become the main way Liverpool wins its games.
Speaking to TNT Sports, left back Andy Robertson said: “I think we need to maybe get back to winning a bit simpler and a bit easier.
“Obviously, it’s a great thing to have been able to keep going right to the end, but when you’re 2-0 up and you’re playing so well in the first half, it should have been a more comfortable night.”
His coach, Arne Slot, agreed.
“I think we should’ve made it easier for ourselves. At 2-0 in the first half, we got more than a few chances to make a third. At 2-1 in the second half, we hit the post,” he said postgame.
“We were so close a few times, and if the margin is only one goal, something can always happen, and it happened. But again we showed mentality because in that 10 minutes that still had to be played, we were pushing, pushing, pushing and we scored a set-piece goal.”
Asked if complacency had been a problem after the team went 2-0 up: “It can, but it didn’t happen too much with us this season that we were 2-0 up after six minutes. But it is clear that if we feel and need urgency, then we are unbelievable.
“Now we need to make sure we feel this urgency for 90 minutes. Don’t even look at the score just feel this urgency every second.”
He added: “If you want to beat a team like Atletico, which has an unbelievable mentality, you have to beat them with their weapon as well. That is what we showed again today – that we can beat them with mentality.
Mentality is the critical factor here because, as the cliche goes, the defining feature of any champion team is securing victory in the face of adversity or underperformance.
Liverpool fans should be encouraged by the team’s apparent developmentnning machine Manchester City used to be.
During their period of domination, rival supporters often decried the Mancunians’ ability to secure victory despite not being the better side.
But it was that underlying conviction that proved crucial on so many occasions.
As Jose Mourinho, then Manchester United boss, once said of Pep Guardiola’s men: “It makes me feel that they are doing so, so well that they are not letting the others come close to that, as simple as that.”
“At the moment, the fight is open for second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth but it is practically closed for the first.”
“I cannot say that we are doing bad because the number of points we have are a very reasonable.
“But Man City started strong and kept being strong with results and managed to win matches even when they didn’t deserve.”
The scary thing for Liverpool’s rivals is that those last-minute winners are starting to feel routine.