Liverpool, England – Alexis McAllister scored the winning goal to continue Liverpool’s revival with a 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Liverpool thought they had been awarded a penalty in the first half when referee Istvan Kovacs saw that Aurelien Chouamini had handled the ball, but VAR ruled that the midfielder’s arms were in a normal position.
Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili saved Jude Bellingham’s shot from the near post before the end of the first half, and Thibaut Courtois also made a wonderful save in the first half to deny Dominik Szoboszlai and Mac Allister. Courtois made another stunning stop to deny Virgil van Dijk early in the second half. However, the Belgium international was finally beaten when McAllister scored from Szoboszlai’s free-kick in the 61st minute.
Much of the build-up to the match was dominated by talk of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s return to Anfield, and the defender was booed when he came off the bench in the 78th minute. Kylian Mbappé came closest for the visitors in the second half, as he fired a shot past the post. But Liverpool held on to achieve the victory that lifted them to sixth place in the Champions League table. – What to do?
Liverpool’s comeback continues, but this is just the beginning
What a difference a week can make. Just six days ago, Liverpool’s season was on the brink after a run of six defeats in seven games. They were knocked out of the Carabao Cup at the hands of Crystal Palace, with their hopes of defending their Premier League title growing with each passing match day.
Moving forward now, the picture at Anfield looks very different. After rebounding in the league with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa, Liverpool produced their most impressive display of the season against Real Madrid.
The resilience, tenacity and star quality that was sorely missing during October have returned in abundance at the end of the month, and manager Arne Slott – under fire for the first time in his Liverpool career – will now receive credit for galvanizing a team that not so long ago seemed devoid of hope and ideas.
Of course, this does not mean that Liverpool are “back”. The season is a marathon rather than a sprint, and there will be plenty of other tough tests ahead, starting with a trip to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. But, for now at least, the good times appear to have returned to Anfield. Now it’s up to Slot and its players to keep it going. — Lindop
Doubts remain about Madrid’s Alonso
Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid looked to have removed any doubts about their performance in big games with a deserved win. Classic Victory over Barcelona 10 days ago. But this defeat and the way it occurred raises more questions. This was not as humbling as the 4-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup, or the 5-2 loss to Atletico in the Madrid derby. but Eggs They were clearly inferior to Liverpool, the second best team all over the pitch, and could have lost by more than one goal.
– Report: Mac Allister leads Liverpool to victory over Real Madrid
– Trent Alexander-Arnold writes a heartbreaking letter to Diogo Jota
Alonso had spoken before the match about the unique atmosphere at Anfield: “The moments when the stadium roars, creating positive energy for Liverpool.” Here, Real Madrid felt this, but did not rise to the occasion. Instead, they played within themselves. They created just one big chance for Bellingham before half-time. Other than that, there was minimal threat, and for a team containing Bellingham, Mbappe and Vinicius Junior, that represents a major disappointment.
The selection of an additional midfielder in Eduardo Camavinga did not help, and Alonso’s substitutions – introducing Rodrigo, Alexander-Arnold and Brahim Diaz – did not change anything. Alonso insists Real Madrid is still a team in the making, in the early stages of the process, and a long way from finished material. This display, against a top team – despite Liverpool’s recent struggles in the Premier League – reinforces that idea. If Real Madrid want to make an impression in Europe this season, they will have to improve quickly. –Alex Kirkland
Bradley shines while Alexander-Arnold has an unhappy reunion
Even before the ball was kicked on Tuesday night, Liverpool fans made their feelings abundantly clear. As former star Alexander-Arnold watched from the Real Madrid bench, the Kop serenaded his replacement at right-back with chants of ‘There’s only one Connor Bradley’.
It has been a mixed season for the Northern Ireland international, with both form and fitness preventing him from proving his claim to the position that Alexander-Arnold redefined during his glittering career at Anfield. But against Madrid, Bradley was keen to show the world why Liverpool believe he is the perfect successor to the England international, defending brilliantly against the tricky Vinicius Junior to help keep Liverpool’s fourth clean sheet this season.
The game was barely 15 minutes old when Bradley won the ball from Bellingham and dribbled past Mbappe to send his side up the pitch. This maneuver earned him a standing ovation from the crowd, and their support for him was confirmed once again when Alexander-Arnold was finally brought on from the bench in the closing stages. This was not the welcome the 27-year-old had imagined for himself when he left the club as two-time Premier League champions in the summer. But in this fiercely partisan city, Alexander-Arnold’s exit is seen by many as high betrayal. Fans expressed their displeasure by booing and jeering every time the former No. 66 touched the ball.
It seems that absence did not make the heart grow fonder. But if Bradley’s star continues to rise, Alexander-Arnold’s departure may become less difficult to accept. — Lindop
Mbappé is quiet at Anfield again
Mbappé looked unstoppable this season, until he arrived at Anfield. Mbappe had scored 18 goals in 14 games before this match – five of them in the Champions League – but against Liverpool, he rarely threatened. It was a throwback to last season, when Mbappe started the season looking unsure of himself, culminating in missing a penalty at Anfield in Real Madrid’s 2-0 defeat on 27 November. He missed another penalty kick in La Liga a week later, with Mbappe later describing this penalty as “rock bottom”.
A year later, this defeat at Anfield was not Mbappe’s fault. He lacked service, as the attack around him failed to work, keeping Liverpool at arm’s length from Madrid. But the brief moments of danger he was able to generate didn’t go his way either. Seventeen minutes later, the first shot was fired, flying high over the bar. Twenty minutes later, no one back-heeled the ball, halting a promising counter-attack. Midway through the second half, he collided with Virgil van Dijk – an experience that was never a pleasant one – and it wasn’t long after that, when Alvaro Carreras’ pass ended up being curled across the six-yard box, with Mbappe nowhere in sight.
His best chance came in the 75th minute from a pass from Vinicius Junior. Mbappe’s shot was somewhat off target. On the sideline, Alonso jumped in frustration, realizing that a promising situation – one of the few all night – had passed Madrid by. –Kirkland
1:05
What mistake did Real Madrid make against Liverpool?
Ally Moreno discusses Xabi Alonso’s tactical decisions in Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool.
Match winner McAllister is back to his best
McAlister could be forgiven for thinking he was having a bout of déjà vu. When the midfielder was carried to the sidelines to collect his man-of-the-match award on Tuesday evening, he may have cast his mind back to this time last year, when he also collected the award following his stellar turn against Real Madrid.
On that night in 2024, McAllister opened the scoring in a 2-0 win for the Slots, during a period when he looked like he was operating at the peak of his abilities. This season, it has been a different story for the Argentina international, whose campaign was cut short last season due to an unspecified injury that also disrupted his pre-season.
But he still managed to make himself stand out against Real Madrid, capping off a masterful display in midfield with the match-winning goal. There is no doubt that his decline in form has contributed to Liverpool’s recent malaise, and it is no coincidence that his two best performances of the season – against Villa and Madrid – coincided with the Reds’ two best performances. Keeping McAllister fit and firing will be key to ensuring Liverpool’s comeback is not just a blip on the horizon. — Lindop
Courtois maintains a respectable result
Van Dyck was laughing. In the 47th minute, the giant centre-back’s header was saved by Courtois, and the feeling at Anfield was: Isn’t this a bit ridiculous? Even Courtois allowed himself a brief smile at that final miraculous intervention, before moving on to organize his defense under fire.
The save from Van Dijk’s shot was not Courtois’s first great stop of the match, or his second. He did make two hard-to-believe saves on Szoboszlai in the first half, one of them from close range. Van Dijk’s save was not the last either. Just a minute later, Courtois tipped an Ikitiki shot over the bar, equally impressively. He then blocked a free kick from Szoboszlai. When McAllister’s goal came, even Courtois was helpless. The header was so close, so powerful, and it passed his head before he had time to react.
Courtois and Liverpool have history. The goalkeeper’s performance in the 2022 Champions League final in Paris – where he made nine saves, meaning Liverpool’s dominance was not rewarded as Real Madrid won 1-0 – was memorable. Here, there were eight saves. They did not contribute to Real Madrid’s victory this time, but they ensured that the contest remained close, while the balance of play was sometimes anything but. –Kirkland
