Virgil van Dijk's stoppage-time winner sparked a confrontation between Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone and Liverpool fans at Anfield as the Reds opened their Champions League campaign with a dramatic 3-2 victory on Wednesday.

Simeone was shown a red card in the aftermath of Van Dijk's 92nd-minute header after his side had come from 2-0 down to level thanks to a double from Marcos Llorente.

Liverpool looked on course to wipe the floor with the struggling Spanish giants after scoring twice in the opening six minutes.

Mohamed Salah outshone Alexander Isak on his first Liverpool start as his free-kick deflected in off Andy Robertson before the Egyptian fired home himself.

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Diego Simeone was sent off for his altercation with the Liverpool support / © AFP

Llorente was the scourge of Liverpool five years ago as Atletico came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Anfield in a contentious last-16 tie.

History was set to repeat itself until this time Liverpool grabbed the late winner that lit the fuse between the home support and the visiting manager.

Simeone appeared to be demanding the removal of one fan in particular even after he was shown a red card by Italian referee Maurizio Mariani.

"In the same way we fight against racism, we should look at this too because we don't have a right to respond and it is not easy to be insulted during the entire match," said Simeone.

"My reaction isn't justifiable but do you know what it is like to be insulted for 90 minutes?"

Liverpool have now won all five of their opening Premier League and Champions League games with winning goals after the 80th minute.

But Arne Slot was disappointed not to have had the three points wrapped up well before stoppage time after a flying start.

"A game like this should not have gone to a late game winner," said the Dutch coach.

"I understand that's the story of this game and the last five games but for me it is a different game than the ones we played before. We had so many great attacks today where we could have scored the third goal."

- Salah on song -

Isak made his debut after becoming the most expensive player in English football history following his £125 million ($170 million) move from Newcastle.

Liverpool's triumvirate of big money forward signings, also including Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike, has at times left Salah on the fringes of the action in the opening weeks of the season.

But Salah was back to his best on Wednesday.

Robertson knew little about his goal as Salah's free-kick hit the Scotland captain to completely wrong-foot Jan Oblak.

Moments later Salah showed his speed, strength and quick feet to see off three Atletico challenges and slot in from Ryan Gravenberch's pass.

Salah was close to a stunning third after being sent clear by Wirtz's through ball as Liverpool looked set to run riot.

Atletico have endured a torrid start to the campaign, winning just one of their opening four La Liga matches.

Against the run of play the visitors suddenly had a lifeline in first-half stoppage time when Llorente prodded a shot into the far corner.

Liverpool were nearly made to rue a series of chances to put the result beyond doubt before Llorente struck again.

Salah came closest when he hit the inside of the post at the end of a brilliant counter-attack involving Wirtz, Ekitike and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Despite not dropping a point in the Premier League so far, chinks in Liverpool's armour have been exposed after a huge summer overhaul of the squad that cruised to the title last season.

Including the Community Shield defeat by Crystal Palace, Slot's men have now conceded two or more goals in four of their opening six matches of the campaign.

There was some fortune to Atletico's leveller as Llorente's volley deflected off Alexis Mac Allister to leave Alisson Becker helpless on 81 minutes.

But the rock solid defensive organisation of Simeone's best Atletico sides is lacking in his current crop and they failed to resist the Liverpool onslaught.

Van Dijk was left completely unmarked to power in Szoboszlai's corner, causing the Argentine's anger to boil over.