In The Zone: How Liverpool bypassed Atleti's low block
Thursday, September 18, 2025
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UEFA Technical Observer Rafa Benítez analyses Liverpool's latest last-ditch win, highlighting the movement and combinations that caused Atlético de Madrid problems.
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If the headline moment of Liverpool's victory over Atlético de Madrid was the latest in a run of late winning goals, it was the Reds' ability to unlock the visitors' low block which drew the attention of UEFA Technical Observer Rafa Benítez.
Arne Slot's team excelled in their combination play and clever movement, as we will explore in the following UEFA Champions League analysis, brought to you by FedEx.
Atleti's defensive excellence has been documented many times, including after their last-16 tie against Real Madrid last term. Yet within six minutes Liverpool had two goals thanks to their players connecting to drag opponents out of their areas and thus creating space to explore in the final third.
Highlighting Liverpool's mobility, former Anfield coach Benítez said: "They played quick between the lines and had players going forward when receiving the ball."
Relational dimension
The video above shows the move that brought the free-kick which led to the opening goal. It shows Mohamed Salah with Florian Wirtz and Ryan Gravenberch exploring the space around Atleti's left central midfielder, Conor Gallagher. Through this combination play, Liverpool advanced the ball with Gravenberch receiving between the lines and attacking the last line.
As Benítez underlined, runs in behind were pivotal and the runs from right-back Jeremie Frimpong provide a case in point. Both videos in this analysis show him distracting Atleti's Nicolás González with his movement – in the second one below, this served to open space for Salah to run into on the inside.
This second video also shows Salah and Gravenberch combining. Here we see Salah at his best: recognising the space to attack, driving into it and showing the strength to hold off defenders. "With that determination, you see his desire to score goals," said Benítez who went on to praise Liverpool's capacity to "move the ball with pace, press with intensity and regain the ball quickly when they'd lost it, winning second balls".
Liverpool coach Slot felt their attacking efforts might have brought even more goals, saying: "[It's] great to score a late winner, but I'd have liked it more if we'd have spoken about, 'Did you see the few attacks we had before half-time when Florian and Alex [Isak] combined together, which led to almost Jeremie scoring, or second half a great attack with Dominik [Szoboszlai] and Flo and Mo that ended up on the post?'."
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Coaching observation – Benítez on beating the low block
How should youth coaches prepare their young players for the challenge of facing a low block? For former Champions League-winning coach Benítez, runs in behind are key. "The first thing that you need is determination to do runs in behind and if there's no space, encourage your players to go one v one," he said.
As displayed by Liverpool last night, there are other elements to work on: movement off the ball, positioning, the ability to play quick and short combinations with the minimum touches. And a player like Reds midfielder Szoboszlai offers an excellent example, with Benítez pointing to his mobility and, notably, the timing of his runs forward.
UEFA Technical Observer Rafa Benítez made his name by winning two league championships and the UEFA Cup with Valencia in the early 2000s before steering Liverpool to a famous victory in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final. He subsequently won the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League at Chelsea.