Anfield audition failed for long-term Liverpool target after Champions League blunder

Liverpool are still unbeaten across all competitions this season.

Andoni Iraola's men took on Atletico Madrid in their opening Champions League tie on Wednesday evening and managed to win 2-1.

However, that didn't look likely to happen with Marcos Llorente managing to bag yet another goal against the Reds.

Indeed, the La Liga outfit's opener was definitely down to the poor positioning of Milos Kerkez but, up until they conceded, they didn't really look like they wanted the win.

Fortunately, they managed to get all three points over the line and got their campaign off to a winning start.

But, even though winning the tie will have been on top of Iraola's to-do list, it wasn't the only thing that he'd have been looking out for.

Marc Pubill's performance may have changed Liverpool's mind about him

Throughout the summer, it was clear that Liverpool's defence was going to be their main area of focus in the transfer window.

Ronald Araujo and Jeremy Jacquet were both brought in with each of them already having a massive impact on Liverpool's performances thus far.

However, with how strong their Premier League rivals' defences are, it's not hard to understand why links with new defenders are still emerging.

Recently, many different defenders have been rumoured to be on their way to Anfield with Atletico Madrid's Marc Pubill one of the most-linked.

The 23-year-old may have only just joined up with Diego Simeone's men last summer but, since the Argentinian has now converted him into a centre-back as well as a right-back, he's seen as a very valuable asset.

Last term, he quickly became one of the La Liga outfit's most important defenders which obviously piqued the interest of Liverpool due to the problems that they faced in defence.

Recently, Liverpool's interest in Pubill has re-emerged and, since the Reds were facing Atletico in their Champions League opener, it was a chance for Pubill to show them why he should be bought.

However, he failed to play to the best of his ability, and, while that's good for Liverpool as it meant that they won the game, it doesn't bode well for his chances to become a Liverpool player in the future.

Marc Pubill could have been Liverpool's younger version of Ronald Araujo

As mentioned, Araujo has had a rather positive impact during the games that he's featured for Liverpool so far.

The defender came to Liverpool to get away from the media's spotlight in La Liga after having a rather rough year at Barcelona.

In fact, the Uruguayan even took time away from football due to the mental health struggles he was facing.

And, while many people thought that he wouldn't return as the same player, he's managed to prove them wrong and has quickly become one of Iraola's best defenders.

However, since he's 27 years old and has a €55 million buy option included in his loan deal, it's unclear whether a permanent deal for the defender will be reached or not.

So, that's why Liverpool being linked with Pubill makes a lot of sense. Atletico want around the same for him as Barcelona do for Araujo and, he's also around four years younger.

Indeed, his performance on Wednesday evening wasn't the best but, if he can re-find his form from last season across the rest of the 2026-27 campaign, a deal could well be on.

Obviously, these are just all rumours at the moment but, since Pubill seemingly failed his Liverpool audition in front of the Anfield crowd, nobody actually knows what's going to happen.