Lee Kang-in. [Getty Images]
Lee Kang-in. [Getty Images]

Lee Kang-in of Atletico Madrid is expected to be left out of the starting lineup for the club's Champions League match against Liverpool.

Atletico Madrid, managed by Diego Simeone, will face Liverpool at Anfield in their opening 2026-27 UEFA Champions League league-phase match Thursday at 4 a.m. Korean Standard Time.

It will be Lee's first Champions League appearance since joining Atletico from Paris Saint-Germain, with whom he won back-to-back titles. It also marks his first Champions League outing with a La Liga club since representing Valencia in the 2019-20 season — a gap of seven years.

However, Lee is unlikely to start the match. The return to fitness of Julian Alvarez appears to be a major factor.

Spanish outlet El Gol Digital reported Monday — three days before the match — that Atletico would leave both Alejandro Grimaldo and Lee out of the starting lineup against Liverpool, with Cristian Romero and Julian Alvarez expected to take their places.

Lee is projected to serve as a game-changer off the bench. He has featured in all four of Atletico's matches this season but has yet to play a full 90 minutes. In the Aug. 20 win over Malaga (2-0), he came on as a substitute in the second half and scored the winning goal — a pattern analysts say is likely to be repeated against Liverpool.

UEFA publishes injury updates, suspended players and projected starting lineups for each fixture. In the Liverpool-Atletico matchup, Lee's name was absent from Atletico's projected starting XI.

It is a frustrating situation for Lee.

Despite helping PSG win the Champions League in two consecutive seasons, he was never more than a backup in the competition rather than a regular starter.

Lee had been a key figure in PSG's three consecutive Ligue 1 titles, recording 12 goals and 14 assists in 80 league appearances over three seasons, yet he was consistently overlooked in the Champions League.

In the 2024-25 season, PSG's first title run, Lee appeared in eight league-phase matches and two round-of-16 playoff games, and came on as a substitute in extra time of the second leg of the round of 16 against Liverpool — but did not feature in a single match from the quarterfinals onward.

The following season, 2025-26, was no different. Lee played four league-phase matches before an injury, then came on as a substitute in both the round-of-16 playoff and the round of 16 itself. He also appeared as a substitute in the first leg of the quarterfinals against Liverpool, but remained on the bench from the second leg through the final.


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