Why Liverpool’s 'bastion of invincibility' is forcing opponents to submit

Alexander Isak’s Liverpool debut. Florian Wirtz’s best performance so far for the Reds.

But it was Virgil van Dijk who proved the last action hero for Arne Slot’s Liverpool as they continued their run of scoring a winner in every game this season after the 80th minute. This time, like it did at Burnley and before that at Newcastle, it arrived in stoppage time as Van Dijk outmuscled Atletico Madrid defender Robin Le Normand to power home a trademark header in front of the Kop.

To win all five opening games of the campaign with goals scored after the 80th minute is either the sign of a winning mentality or a hint at underlying issues. Slot will take the positive from it as his new-look side gather their bearings, last week quoting Michael Jordan’s ‘the harder we work, the luckier we get.’

Liverpool's late goals aren't lucky: it's something else entirely

But Liverpool’s craft for late goals isn’t down to luck and to claim as much would be doing them a disservice. It’s about their constant ability to mentally and physically beat their opponents into submission.

“My idea was to build Liverpool up, and up, and up. Until eventually, everyone would have to submit, and give in,” declared Bill Shankly.

Liverpool’s habit of late goals means opponents are mentally defeated before a ball is kicked. Plenty will compare it to Sir Alex Ferguson’s sides of the nineties and noughties, where teams were beaten in the tunnel, knowing the inevitable would arrive eventually.

This was a high quality match between two ‘Pot 1’ Champions League sides, something Slot was right to highlight post-match as a positive from the new format of Europe’s elite competition: “I think this is what the format is about, what UEFA probably wanted; to have already a first game in the group stage that could have been a quarter-final, semi-final [or] last-16 game.”

The Reds’ boss also spoke about the entertainment value of his side, saying: “I think again it was a great game to watch, not only for us as Liverpool fans, but for all the fans all around the world who love to watch football. I think that’s also part of our jobs, that people like what they see. That’s what we’re trying every time, but a game like this should not have gone to a late winner.”

Liverpool are certainly entertaining, with 12 goals scored and six conceded in their opening five games of the new season.

Virgil van Dijk shows his dominance once more

For all the talk of new signings, and the focus on Mohamed Salah’s new contract when that was agreed at the end of last season, the extension of Van Dijk’s went somewhat under the radar. It cannot, though, be understated how important the Dutchman – ranked at no.13 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest Premier League players of all time – is to Liverpool.

Incredibly, he becomes part of a five-man list of players to have scored 25 or more headers for a single side from Europe’s top five leagues since January 2018, the other four all being forwards (Robert Lewandowski, Harry Kane, Karim Benzema and Ante Budimir).

And while stats rarely tell the full story, Van Dijk’s against Atletico Madrid underlined his dominance and also his importance to the team, not just defensively; the most passes completed in the match, seven of eight duels won, seven clearances, one chance created, most passes into the final third.

At 34, he shows no signs of slowing down. His contract now runs to almost his 36th birthday, but on the current evidence, you wouldn’t be surprised to see him surpass that with another extension.

Van Dijk takes his role as captain seriously, with pride in what he does and focus and determination that inspires the rest of the squad. He is a true leader, something even Slot has admitted he was surprised at quite how much.

He’s been part of two title wins, lifting one of them as captain, and one Champions League success. He now seeks to lift that trophy as captain, too. He knows that this current iteration of the team is a work in progress, with so many new signings to integrate, a new system, patterns and understandings between team-mates to emerge.

“We’re still learning. I’m pretty confident that we’re going to get there,” he said post-match. “All the guys obviously need a bit of time. Like it’s absolutely normal. But I think all the new guys there will.”

There were certainly encouraging signs of link-up play between Wirtz and Isak, and it might not be long until the Steven Gerrard-Fernando Torres comparisons are spoken of, which would put opponents further on alert.

If you can win while still learning on the job, as Liverpool are, the future looks extremely strong. Maybe, just maybe, Liverpool will become, in the words of Shankly, untouchable; a bastion of invincibility.