Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid: MASSIVE injury news as star officially out

Liverpool host Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday evening. One major star has been ruled out, however.

The Champions League is back and Liverpool will hope to have as good a league phase as they did last year. Arne Slot guided the Reds to first place in the new format's debut.

However, Liverpool were rewarded for that with two legs against Paris Saint-Germain. It turned out they were actually the best team in Europe last season - genuinely, it would have been better to get anyone else.

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This time around, though, Liverpool will feel very confident about going further. They've revitalised their squad and arguably made it far more comfortable at competing across multiple competitions.

There are elite options in just about every single role after an incredible spend over the summer. There's also the boost of having won the Premier League - this is a squad that knows they're good enough to win the biggest trophies.

Up first, though, is a massive test as Diego Simeone takes his Atlético Madrid side to Anfield. They've been a real thorn in the Reds' side whenever they've made that trip.

But they won't be at full strength this time around.

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Julian Alvarez OUT of Anfield clash

Julian Alvarez, arguably the best player in this Atlético squad, is not in the squad for Wednesday’s match. The Argentine forward picked up an injury in the win over Villarreal at the weekend and is now out.

It’s a massive blow to Simeone, who’s got other knocks to contend with, too. Alvarez scored 17 times for Atletico in his debut La Liga campaign last season, comfortably asserting himself as one of the best forwards in football.

But we’ll be honest - this new probably won’t make for a great game of football. Atletico were always going to try and stifle Liverpool and Anfield, attempting to grab a point at the minimum.

Alvarez being out will only entrench that idea even further. Their chances of scoring have fallen quite dramatically without their no.9. Now it makes total sense to kill the game at every opportunity.

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