A day after revealing his disappointment over the lack of a new contract offer by Liverpool, Alexis Mac Allister delivered the perfect response with the winning goal in a 2-1 victory against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Mac Allister unleashed a ferocious strike from outside of the box as Liverpool came back from a goal down at Anfield.
The Argentina international, who joined Liverpool in 2023, raced away to celebrate in front of the home fans. It was in stark contrast to his sombre tone ahead of the game when discussing the uncertainty over his position at the club.
“I received the news that the club was not in a position to offer me a new contract," he said during a pre-match news conference on Tuesday.
Mac Allister’s contract runs until 2028, so there is no urgency for Liverpool to renew yet. But his goal five minutes after after halftime was a reminder of his qualities, firing powerfully into the corner and beyond the reach of Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
“Normally when I’m in those positions I like to shoot," Mac Allister said. "It doesn’t happen very often but I’m happy because I love to score goals. Today, it was a nice goal and was important for the team as well, which is what I want.”
Atletico had taken the lead through Marcos Llorente after 17 minutes, with the midfielder extending his remarkable goal-scoring run at Anfield.
It was his fifth goal in his last three visits to Merseyside, having famously scored twice as Atletico eliminated then-defending champion Liverpool from the tournament just before the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
Dominik Szoboszlai leveled in the 40th before Mac Allister’s winner.
“I think we have an amazing team. We have quality, we have desire and we have everything to be successful,” Mac Allister said. “But we need to show it. We have to have everyone in the same page and we can do great things.”
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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
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James Robson, The Associated Press
