Virgil van Dijk's late header secures tense victory for Liverpool; Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan win comfortably.
Virgil van Dijk scored with a stunning late header in the second minute of stoppage time to give Liverpool a 3-2 victory over Atletico Madrid in their opening group stage match of the Champions League, at Anfield, on Wednesday.
Two goals up within the first six minutes, through Andrew Robertson and Mohamed Salah, Arne Slot's team looked good for much more before Marcos Llorente scored twice, first in the opening half of stoppage time and then in the 81st minute, to put the Spanish side on level terms.
However, just when it looked as if the teams would settle for a point, Captain van Dijk towered above the Atletico defence following a corner to head the ball home and clinch a well-deserved victory for the English side.
The Reds were high in the saddle after Mohamed Salah's free-kick deflected into the net off defender Robertson in the fourth minute and Salah scored in the sixth after getting past three defenders and angling the ball into the Atletico goal.
Midfielder Llorente then livened up the match, scoring before the break and from the edge of the penalty area to equalise, only for Liverpool to win it in the dying minutes.
In other matches on the night, defending champions PSG trounced Atalanta 4-0, Bayern Munich beat Chelsea 3-1, Inter Milan beat Ajax 2-0, Bodo/Glimt snatched a 2-2 draw with Slavia Prague, and Olympiakos were left frustrated as 10-man Pafos held out for a goalless draw.
Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain got off to a resounding start at the Parc des Princes, France, outplaying Atalanta.
Marquinhos needed less three minutes to open the scoring from close range before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia added to the tally in the 39th minute. Bradley Barcola's penalty was saved by Marco Carnesecchi before the break, but Nuno Mendes made it three from a tight angle early in the 51st minute.
Substitute Gonçalo Ramos completed the rout in the first minute of stoppage time.
Harry Kane's double was the difference as Bayern started their campaign with three points against Chelsea at Allianz Arena, Munich.
The home side went ahead through Trevor Chalobah's own goal, and then quickly scored a second when Kane converted a penalty after he was pulled to the ground by Moises Caicedo.
Although Cole Palmer pulled one back almost immediately with a brilliant finish, Kane's second after punishing some uncertain defending sealed the result.
Marcus Thuram stole the show as Inter eased to victory in Amsterdam.
The Italian side started well but Goalkeeper Yann Sommer was forced to make the first big save of the night from Mika Godts' effort.
Inter were soon back on the front foot and, from the next attack, Hakan Çalhanoglu's corner was met by Thuram to open the scoring. The Inter pair then repeated the trick just after the break to cap a fine evening for last season's beaten finalists.
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