Iraola's Champions League Debut as Liverpool Face Atletico Madrid
Andoni Iraola steps into the Champions League spotlight as Liverpool head coach for the first time tonight – and he does it under the Anfield lights against a familiar European antagonist in Atletico Madrid.
This is no gentle introduction. Diego Simeone. Atletico. The noise of a European night on Merseyside. It is exactly the kind of stage Liverpool hired Iraola for.
Iraola’s first big European call: no Gakpo
The headline before kick-off is not the opponent, though. It is the absence of Cody Gakpo.
The Dutch forward, one of Liverpool’s sharpest performers at the start of the season, has been left out of the squad entirely. He missed training on Tuesday and, while the club initially played down concerns and described his absence as precautionary, the decision has now been made to keep him out of this one.
Gakpo picked up a minor adductor issue in last Friday’s Premier League win at Ipswich Town, where he again underlined his importance with two assists in the 2-0 victory. That took his league tally to one goal and three assists already this season, form that had followed a summer of heavy links with Manchester City.
Iraola, speaking to TNT Sports before kick-off, explained the call in blunt terms. Gakpo finished the Ipswich game feeling his adductors on both sides. Nothing torn, nothing “proper”, as the coach put it, but enough for Liverpool to draw a line. No gamble, not tonight.
The plan is clear: rest him now, get him back quickly. Iraola believes Gakpo has a real chance of making the squad for the weekend’s league game against Fulham. If not, the expectation is that he will be ready the following week.
Barcola’s first start as Liverpool roll the dice
With Gakpo out, Iraola has turned to Bradley Barcola.
The France forward makes his first Liverpool start in the club’s Champions League league-phase opener, a bold selection on a night that usually demands experience. Barcola comes into the XI as one of two changes from the side that beat Ipswich.
Rio Ngumoha is the other player drafted in, offering fresh legs and a different profile in the final third. Victor Munoz drops to the bench as Iraola tweaks the balance of his attack for a contest that is likely to be tight, tactical, and emotional.
For Barcola, it is a huge opportunity. Anfield. Champions League. Atletico Madrid. A first start that will reveal quickly whether he can handle the pace and pressure of this level in a Liverpool shirt.
Atletico memories and a shifting rivalry
The visitors know this ground well, and not always fondly in recent years.
Liverpool have taken control of this modern European rivalry. After managing just one win in their first six meetings with Atletico since 2008, they have now strung together three straight victories over Simeone’s side. That run has shifted the tone of a fixture that once seemed to belong to the Spaniards.
Tonight offers another chapter. Simeone will bring the usual intensity. Iraola will try to impose a more front-foot, aggressive style of his own. The tactical duel on the touchline has its own edge: a first Champions League outing for one Basque coach against another who has defined an era of European pragmatism.
Injury picture: long-term absentees and slow returns
Behind the excitement of a European opener, Liverpool’s squad still carries scars.
Hugo Ekitike remains a long-term absentee as he continues his recovery from the serious Achilles injury he suffered in April. His absence has removed one attacking option from Iraola’s rotation at a time when the games are starting to stack up.
At the back, Joe Gomez is edging closer but not quite there. The defender damaged his hamstring in the opening minutes of Liverpool’s first pre-season game and has been out since. He returned to full training on Tuesday, a significant step, but has not been risked in the matchday squad against Atletico.
Conor Bradley is still sidelined with the knee injury he picked up in January, while Giovanni Leoni continues his rehabilitation from a knee problem sustained last September. Both remain on the outside looking in as the season begins to gather pace.
Federico Chiesa, a high-profile name on the team sheet, is yet to feature this season and was left out of Liverpool’s Champions League squad altogether. Wataru Endo is in the same position, unavailable for selection in Europe after being omitted from the list.
A new era meets an old test
So Iraola walks out at Anfield tonight with a patched-up squad, a reshaped attack, and a Champions League debut in the Liverpool dugout against one of the competition’s most streetwise teams.
No Gakpo. No Ekitike. No Gomez in the squad. Barcola thrown into the fire. Ngumoha trusted on a major European night.
The atmosphere will take care of itself. The question now is whether Iraola’s Liverpool can, too, when the anthem stops and Atletico come hunting.
