Var comes to Liverpool’s rescue as 10-man Atletico Madrid denied late penalty in five-goal thriller

An epic game for its mistakes as much as its moments of brilliance and yet in the end there was a familiar story for the age: it was won for Liverpool by the irrepressible Mohamed Salah.

Yet even the man himself would have to admit that was only half the tale as this great clash of European stylists – the pragmatic, forceful Atletico and their expansive passing visitors – gave us one of the great games of the Champions League group stages. Having scored the penalty, the second of his two goals, that won the game, Salah watched as his side then escaped conceding a penalty themselves with a change of heart on the Var review by the German referee Daniel Siebert.

By then Atletico had nothing left to lose – the scorer of their two goals Antoine Griezmann had been dismissed for a recklessly high boot and the plan to defend for the draw, as it was then when he went off, was in ruins. Having come back from two early goals they had lost Griezmann and then saw their defender Mario Hermoso lose his composure to concede a penalty from which Salah dispatched the third.

That is 12 goals so far this season for Salah, and the third straight win for Liverpool in the group means that they are almost certain of qualification for the knockout stages already. A win away at Atletico is a win to be treasured – no matter how chaotic the circumstances.

It was hard to discern the shape of the traditional Atletico in these opening stages. The old, grinding machine conceived of by their black-suited, angry manager was jittery and out of sorts in the opening stages. They had only conceded two goals at home for the whole of the season so far, both in the same match to Villarreal at the end of August. Against Liverpool they had conceded two within 13 minutes.

Both of them were defensive errors in different ways, and both owing much to some magic in the boots of the goalscorers. You might say that Salah was fortunate that his shot took a big turn of direction off James Milner, loitering unexpectedly in the area having been a surprise choice in the starting XI. But then Salah had just feinted and deceived his way past three Atletico players: Yannick Carrasco, Thomas Lemar and then Koke before unleashing the shot.

It was a moment of Salah brilliance. There are some teams who fall for all the old tricks, and then there is Atletico who rarely fall for any of them. In this instance, however, Atletico were unable to stop that familiar path Salah takes from wide on the right to a central shooting position, guided there by his left foot. The cannon off Milner was so significant that originally Uefa gifted the goal to the Englishman, and then with a change of mind, it reverted to Liverpool’s top goalscorer.

Rocked by that goal which had originated from an Andy Robertson cross from the left side, Atletico gave up a second within five minutes. Another ball into the area was not dealt with by the home side. Trent Alexander-Arnold looked to pick out a team-mate and the clearance from the Brazil international Felipe was poor. That said, it needed a first time clean connection from Naby Keita to beat Jan Oblak from the edge of the area and the Liverpool midfielder obliged.

This must have felt strange for the away side who were demolishing a team that is built to last in games such as these. The pendulum swung and now it was Atletico attacking the flanks. Lemar had been superb throughout the first half and it was he who cracked Liverpool down their right side on 20 minutes, cutting back deep into the box from the byline. Koke had the shot and somewhere in the feet and legs of the area, Griezmann got the final touch.

There was a long period while Var tried to find a reason to disallow it before the goal could be celebrated a second time by the home crowd. The question seemed to be whether Lemar, in an offside position, was affecting the play and in doing so preventing Joel Matip from clearing.

After that, the doubt seemed to fall away from Simeone’s team. They are so well drilled to make the spaces in the pitch feel claustrophobic and when they get the ball in attacking positions they are unfailingly direct. The combination of Joao Felix and Griezmann for the second was outstanding, the former taking the ball from an unpromising right-sided position and carrying it into the inside right channel before Griezmann’s run triggered the pass.

And what a run it was, taking the Frenchman diagonally between the Liverpool defenders to receive the ball on the run and dispatch his shot past Alisson.

All of it entertainment of the highest quality, and also questions raised over some of the old dependables. Virgil van Dijk was deceived completely by the run of Griezmann for the second goal and found himself turning away from the forward to try to regain the trajectory. When the dust had settled it was clear that the big picture was still the same: Liverpool had most of the ball, 75 per cent of the possession count in fact, but Atletico had their half share of the drama.

Keita did not come back out for the second half, nor the Atletico defender Geoffrey Kondogbia. Fabinho took the midfield role and in the early stages it felt that Liverpool were susceptible again, another fine save from Alisson denying Atletico.

Yet Diego Simeone’s team do play on the edge and that has its consequences. The rawness with which they seek out the turnover of possession was evident once more when Griezmann raised a left boot high and wild and connected with Roberto Firmino somewhere north of his neck tattoo. It was done in a moment but the German referee knew what he had seen and waved a red at the Frenchman. There was no dissent from the Var after a good look at the incident.

Down to ten men, it at least left no doubt in the minds of Atletico as to what they should be for the rest of the game – and that was their natural selves, sitting tight and deep and waiting for the occasional counter-attack. It was all going to plan, Liverpool’s passes multiplying, and Atletico just trying to keep them at bay. An indication of how long the away side had the ball was the long wait that Simeone had for a triple substitution – including Luis Suarez – all made to stand for what felt like an age on the touchline.

It changed when the Atletico full-back Hermoso made the inexplicable decision to take down substitute Diogo Jota in his own area. A raw tackle on a raw night, and once again Salah had the ball and the game in his sights. He sent Oblak one way and the ball the other. Then came the penalty for Atletico, conceded by Jota for a foul on the substitute Jose Maria Gimenez and reviewed for an eternity before it was disallowed.