Liverpool Secures Champions League Win but Faces Gakpo Injury Concern

Liverpool’s Champions League campaign began with a win – and a warning.

They edged past Atletico 2–1 in their league‑phase opener, but did it without one of the men who has lit up the early weeks of the season. Cody Gakpo never even made the bench.

The Dutch forward missed Tuesday’s key training session and was ruled out completely after feeling pain in both adductors following his previous 90‑minute outing. Head coach Andoni Iraola confirmed the issue is not classed as a serious injury, yet it was uncomfortable enough to keep him out of a European night Liverpool were desperate to start strongly.

The timing could hardly be worse.

Gakpo has exploded under his new manager. One goal, three assists in his first three matches. Full of running, full of confidence, full of end product. On Friday night he went the distance, dictating Liverpool’s attacking play and supplying two assists for Alexander Isak in a controlled 2–0 win over Ipswich Town. It looked like the start of a season built around him.

Then the niggles arrived.

“I don’t know [if he will be back for Fulham]. I hope so, but I don’t know,” Iraola admitted on the club’s official channels. “He doesn’t have a proper injury, but he finished with niggles in both of the adductors the other day. We expected to have him for today, [but] it hasn’t been possible. It’s not a big thing, but the problem is we play here [again] in two days and a half.”

That schedule is the real antagonist in this story. Atletico in midweek, Fulham back at the same venue less than 72 hours later. Recovery sessions instead of full training. Ice baths and data reports shaping selection.

Iraola knows he is walking a tightrope with a squad already pushed hard in the opening weeks.

“I think now is a moment of recovery in these two days,” he said. “Let’s see how Bradley has finished, how Cody is [and] if he can give us some minutes. If not, Rio, Victor, I think today everyone has done a big effort.

“We need to recover, we need to regroup and think because in two days and a half we play again here [against] Fulham, it’s a very important game again for us. So, I hope we can have Cody with us, but I cannot guarantee it.”

For now, Liverpool can take comfort in the result and in the reassurance that Gakpo’s problem is not viewed as long term. But the early-season narrative has shifted. A player in blistering form, a manager trying to ride the wave without breaking it, and a relentless calendar that offers no mercy.

Fulham arrive next. The question is whether Liverpool’s new attacking catalyst will be there to meet them.