And marksman Lucas continued his summer of progress with another eye-catching display, which was just as well as Javier Mascherano was stuck in third gear.

The young Brazilian clearly views Xabi Alonso’s departure as his opportunity to secure a regular starting place and he was full of energy and desire once again, breaking late into the box and working simple but effective one-twos all over the park.

With the colourful 44,000 crowd still debating the consequences of Carragher limping from the touchline, Atletico took the lead.

One-time Anfield target Simao broke down the left flank and whipped in a testing ball behind Ayala and stand-in centre-half Mascherano which Aguero snapped up, deflecting a diving header inside Pepe Reina’s left hand post.

And Forlan doubled the tally when Lucas was caught napping on the edge of his own box, allowing the former Manchester United striker to pick his spot in the top left hand corner after ghosting onto a return back-heel from Simao.

Lucas made up for his error with his own super finish in front of the Kop in the second half with 10 minutes left on the clock.

But that was only after Andriy Voronin’s arrival led to Steven Gerrard dropping into a more traditional centre midfield role alongside Jay Spearing.

The Reds skipper seemed to revel in the extra space afforded further back and for the final 10 minutes orchestrated a bombardment of forays forward which resulted in chance after chance.

Lucas, who beat the offside trap by slipping in under the nose of Atletico centre-half Tomas Ujfalusi, found himself all alone with the ball at his feet, bearing down on the Kop goal.

But he showed an impressive level of maturity to calmly stroke the ball home under Asenjo’s and inside his right hand post.

Lucas’ form at least allays initial concerns that new Italian playmaker Alberto Aquilani will not be available for at least six weeks.

But it is the injury-ravaged Reds backline which will ensure Benitez suffers from a bout of insomnia over the next six days.

The question now is whether he can get two of his starting three centre-halves fit enough to start at White Hart Lane or whether it is the cheque book or the fragile Academy kids who shoulder responsibility in the Reds’ first game of the season.