The Champions League is back and serving up an intriguing contest on match week one as Liverpool prepare to face off against Atletico Madrid.

It is deja vu for both clubs, who also faced off in their opening match of the 2025-26 season, with Liverpool coming out on top 3-2 thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Virgil van Dijk.

But there has been a lot of change at Anfield since then, with Andoni Iraola replacing Arne Slot in the dugout and Mohamed Salah leaving the club.

The Reds, who were knocked out in the quarter-finals by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain last term, got their first win under Iraola at the weekend after a mixed start to the campaign.

As for Atletico, they still have Diego Simeone at the helm, and he will be aiming to improve on last season's semi-final exit to Arsenal.

However, after making a strong start to LaLiga this term, that run came grinding to a halt against Athletic Club at the weekend.

So, who will get off the mark in the Champions League at Anfield? Here, using Opta data, we look at the key storylines ahead of this clash.

What's expected?

Liverpool have dominated their recent matches against Atletico, and that trend is expected to continue on Wednesday, with the Opta supercomputer backing them as favourites.

The Reds came out on top in 53% of the 10,000 pre-match simulations, while Atletico triumphed in just 23.5%.

And Atleti are almost as likely to come away with a draw, with 23.4% of the simulations ending level.

It should come as no surprise, though, as Liverpool have won each of their last three games against Atletico in the competition; the Spanish side have never lost four consecutive games against an opponent in the European Cup/Champions League.

Atletico's two Champions League wins against Liverpool both came in the round of 16 in 2019-20 (1-0 at home, 3-2 away).

Liverpool are unbeaten against them in the competition in group stage/league phase meetings, however (W3 D2).

Iraola will not be looking forward to coming up against Simeone. The 44-year-old is winless in his four games against Simeone's Atletico, losing three of them (D1).

Iraola seeks perfect Champions League start

Liverpool started their life under Iraola with back-to-back draws against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest, having to come from behind twice in both games to snatch a point.

However, a fast start against Ipswich Town got the Spaniard the win he had been waiting for on Friday as Alexander Isak pounced twice in the opening nine minutes to seal the victory.

The striker has already netted three goals this term, while Cody Gakpo – who had looked set to leave in the transfer window for Manchester City – assisted both goals against Ipswich and has been directly involved in four goals in the Premier League this season (one goal, three assists).

Liverpool's attacking play has looked particularly strong this term, which is good news as they prepare to embark on a Champions League campaign without Salah for the first time since 2017-18.

The Egyptian is top for games (83), goals (47) and assists (19) for the Reds in the history of the competition. 

They do not lack experience, though, and still have Dominik Szoboszlai, who led all Liverpool players in the Champions League last season for goals (five), assists (four), distance covered (130km), and possession won (85).

Starting their European campaign at Anfield is also certainly a boost, having never lost their opening game of a European Cup/Champions League campaign when playing at home, winning 10 of their 12 matches (D2).

Each of the last three have been 3-2 home victories, with the most recent being against Atletico last season.

But this is new ground for Iraola, who is taking charge of his first-ever matches in the Champions League.

He played three games in the competition in 2014-15 for Athletic, but his only previous managerial experience in European football was in 2018-19, when he led AEK Larnaca to the Europa League group stage via qualifying.

Atletico need to plug leaky defence

This will be the 14th consecutive Champions League campaign in which Atletico have featured – they are one of only six sides to feature in every edition since 2013-14, along with Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG, Bayern Munich and Man City.

They have made it past the group/league phase in each of the last three seasons, with their semi-final exit in 2025-26 their best finish since reaching the last four in 2016-17.

Atletico were the third-highest scorers in the Champions League last term, netting 35 goals, with only PSG (45) and Bayern (43) scoring more.

That is largely down to Julian Alvarez, who scored 10 goals, and Simeone will be hoping to get him reintegrated into the starting line-up as quickly as possible after Atletico held firm to keep him at the club during the transfer window.

But they will first have to overcome the disappointment of Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Athletic. Atletico were unbeaten in their first three LaLiga games prior to that (W2 D1).

They conceded twice in the opening three minutes of the second half – marking the first time they have done that in a LaLiga game.

Simeone will be particularly keen to plug any gaps in Atletico's defence, because while they were among the top scorers, they also conceded a lot of goals in last season's Champions League.

Only Qarabag (30) let in more goals than Atletico (28) and only kept one clean sheet in their 16 matches.

They also faced 88 shots on target in total, with only Madrid and Bodo/Glimt (both 92) coming up against more, though Atletico conceded as many goals as they were expected to, facing 28 expected goals against (xGA).

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Liverpool – Florian Wirtz

Florian Wirtz averaged 3.4 chances created per 90 in the Champions League last season, more than any other player (min. 300 minutes played).

Overall, he created 32 chances for his Liverpool team-mates in the competition, registering just three assists from 3.8 expected assists (xA).

Of those chances he created, seven were Opta-defined 'big' chances, with only six players setting up more such chances – one of whom was Salah (nine).

Atletico Madrid – Marcos Llorente

Marcos Llorente has scored four goals in two appearances against Liverpool at Anfield.

The only venue that Llorente has netted more goals at for the club is the Metropolitano, Atletico's home ground (15 in 145 games).

Overall, he has hit the back of the net nine times in the Champions League, with all of his goals coming for Atletico. His four goals in 2025-26 were his best return in a single season in the competition.