Gakpo Sidelined: Liverpool's Tactical Dilemma After Atletico Win
Liverpool’s win over Atletico came with a jolt of reality. The Champions League league-phase opener ended 2–1 in their favour, but one of the form players of the season never made it to the pitch, or even the bench.
Cody Gakpo was nowhere to be seen.
Gakpo sidelined after late setback
The Dutch forward missed Tuesday’s crucial training session and was subsequently left out of the matchday squad entirely. Head coach Andoni Iraola later explained that Gakpo had picked up niggles in both adductors after his previous 90-minute outing.
It is not, the staff insist, a serious or long-term problem. But it hurt enough to keep him out.
“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,” Iraola told the club’s official channels after the Atletico win.
The decision was precautionary, but it underlines the fine line Liverpool are walking at this stage of the season: push a key player through discomfort, or trust the squad and hope the early momentum survives the strain.
Blistering start abruptly paused
The timing could hardly be more frustrating for Gakpo. Under his new manager, he has exploded out of the blocks: one goal and three assists in his first three matches of the campaign, driving Liverpool’s attack with the confidence of a player who knows every touch matters.
His most recent league outing underlined that surge. On Friday night he went the full 90 minutes, dictating the game and teeing up Alexander Isak twice in a commanding 2–0 win over Ipswich Town. It was the kind of performance that turns a good start into a statement.
Then came the tightness, the adductors, the missed training session. And suddenly Liverpool had to open their European campaign without one of their sharpest weapons.
Fulham looming, selection headache growing
Iraola’s optimism about Gakpo’s broader fitness is genuine, but the schedule offers little mercy. Liverpool are back at it in “two days and a half”, at home again, this time against Fulham in a match the coach openly labels “very important”.
Asked if Gakpo could return in time, Iraola did not dress it up.
“I don’t know [if he will be back for Fulham]. I hope so, but I don’t know. He doesn’t have a proper injury, but he finished with niggles in both of the adductors the other day.”
The medical bulletin does not end there. The staff will also assess Bradley, another player who has emptied the tank in recent outings. The coach’s mind is clearly on ice baths and recovery sessions as much as tactics.
“I think now is a moment of recovery in these two days. 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.”
The message is clear: the squad will be stretched, and the pecking order could shift quickly if others seize their chance.
Fine margins in a brutal schedule
For now, Liverpool can bank the Atletico win and the confidence that comes with navigating a European night without a key forward. But the real test may come at the weekend.
Can Iraola afford to risk Gakpo for Fulham, even for “some minutes”, with the season still in its early chapters and the fixtures already stacking up? Or does he hold firm, trust the depth he name-checked, and protect a player who has started the campaign like a man intent on defining it?
