Neil Atkinson’s post-match review for The Anfield Wrap after Frankfurt 1 Liverpool 5 in the 2025-2026 Champions League in Germany…
WINNING. Winning is good.
By that I don’t just mean the final whistle, the win is done and dusted. By that I mean getting to play football when the scoreboard isn’t against you. Getting to play football as the better side on the pitch, on paper and as the clock ticks down.
Liverpool suddenly had that and their second-half performance from 1-3 to 1-5 was their best thirty minutes of the season.
None of this means anything is permanently fixed, but permanently fixed is a teeny bit overrated. The issue with contemporary football is the speed of change. In the autumn of 2024 Paris St Germain looked like a skewed joke. By March they looked irresistible. Nothing stays precisely in position for any length of time and you are constantly having to work things out.
The good thing about tonight was that some things were worked out. The bad thing was the goal that was conceded and that was when the whole thing didn’t look worked out. It was the moment when you saw the abyss and were held by your demons.
It was too open through the middle there and you just panicked and thought there would be more and more of it.
But they learnt. They were switched on. By “they” I mean Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones. The pair were bright as buttons throughout, epitomised by the fourth and fifth goals. They found their way over and over and this is what Liverpool need.
Florian Wirtz was just as bright. His ability to find space is tremendous, touches here and there, clever movement and excellent passing. He found his hips and showed them and, as we all know, hips don’t lie.
What Hugo Ekitike does for the equaliser is as picture perfect as Andy Robertson’s ball. You believe every step of the way and then there it is. Ekitike was outstanding again. The oddness of our current reality is that Alexander Isak and Mo Salah are finding it hard. Ekitike isn’t. Cody Gakpo is finding bits hard but ends tonight with a goal and an assist. Federico Chiesa wants a fight. Wants to scrap for every yard and in the second-half he is the absolute business.
This is the thing currently – it just doesn’t quite make sense. But for now we need to embrace what works because there will be time for everyone to come to the party. You can’t win anything in October but you can lose it. You win in Spring and if we have to wait for a few to find themselves till then, this squad has enough talent within it.
As part of that, attacking some corners with aplomb is no bad thing and both centre-halves do their share. As part of that, exploiting an opposition weakness is no bad thing. As part of that, picking teams which make it easier for the footballers is no bad thing and has just happened for what feels like the first time in a while.
But winning is good. Winning helps. Playing in that environment is good. They have an awkward date Saturday where scoring first will be important. Liverpool aren’t a perfect outfit but that doesn’t preclude any achievement yet. Tonight they looked like a team and that is a step forward.
Tonight was like taking off tight shoes. It made the world easier, the Swiss System easier, your brain easier. The brain is the main thing. Get Saturday boxed and go from there. I love taking off tight shoes. You always need to be prepared to put them back on because you wear tight shoes because they are the good ones.
We should want the pressure; just not yet. Today helps.
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