Liverpool made it five straight wins in the Champions League this season with a 2-0 victory over Real Madrid at Anfield on Wednesday night. The triumph sees the Reds go top of the new-look table once more after dropping down to third following Tuesday’s results.
Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo scored second-half goals in a game that saw Kylian Mbappe have a penalty saved by Caoimhin Kelleher before Mohamed Salah sent his own spot kick wide down the other end. The was at Anfield to provide our usual mix of player ratings, big-match verdict, analysis, while our colleagues from the national media were also there to give their own considered takes.
Paul Joyce, of The Times, writes: “The outcome may not send shockwaves around the Continent, not at this stage of the Champions League anyway, but the way a rousing victory was conceived should. Here was Europe’s most dominant team being utterly dominated – and how Anfield savoured the occasion in all its glory.
There was a seven-minute period immediately after the interval when Liverpool poured forward with such relentless intent that Real Madrid – 15-times winners of Europe’s elite competition – completed only one pass in the opposition half. One.
By the end of the maelstrom the vaunted were vanquished, with Alexis Mac Allister driving Arne Slot’s side into the lead and setting out the route to a first victory over the Spaniards in 15 years. Revenge was never a possibility here. The stakes in this latest tussle did not come close to rivalling matches over recent years in which Real had prevailed.
Yet the reward remained sizable with Liverpool heading into Sunday’s showdown with Manchester City in rude health. Self-belief will be emboldened by the sort of team performance that Pep Guardiola can only sit back and laud right now. Caoimhin Kelleher and Conor Bradley emerged as heroes, producing such faultless displays that it seems wrong to class them as understudies stepping up only because of injuries to Alisson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.”
Over on The Telegraph’s pages, Jason Burt pens: “It is only late November, no trophies are handed out at this time of year, but there is little doubt that Liverpool are the best team in Europe right now.
Their hope will be that they maintain that status come the final in Munich on May 31 and, maybe, this could be another dress rehearsal for that occasion. It is not as if these two grand clubs have not acquainted each other at that stage of the competition in the past – even if Real Madrid will have to rally from this, a third defeat in five Champions League ties
In the new-format group stage, with all 36 teams lumped together, Liverpool deservedly sit at the summit, having defeated the European champions on another special Anfield night. ‘Liverpool, Liverpool top of the league,’ chanted their fans. Such is their dominance, that applies to Europe as well as the Premier League.
“For Liverpool, their record in all competitions under head coach Arne Slot reads played 19, won 17, drawn one, lost one. That is truly remarkable, and formidable.”
Daniel Orme, of The Mirror, muses: “It really hasn’t been the best start to life at Real Madrid for Kylian Mbappe. Despite the Frenchman having nine goals for the campaign, he seems slightly uncomfortable at the Bernabeu amid claims he is being played out of position by Carlo Ancelotti.
“He had the perfect chance to at least get on the scoresheet at Anfield as Real were awarded a penalty. After conceding a spot-kick against Southampton, Andrew Robertson did the same against the Spanish side by tripping Lucas Vazquez.
Mbappe stepped up but his weak penalty was parried away by Caoimhin Kelleher. With Mbappe failing to convert, Salah had the chance to show his opposite number how it was done after a sublime show of skill. The Egyptian wideman raced down the right side and cut inside Ferland Mendy.
The Frenchman was tied up in knots as he stuck out a foot and took Salah down. Salah was predictably the man to step up but surprisingly missed. Salah kicked the floor before taking his kick, firing the ball wide of goal. Maybe hold that new contract, after all, Liverpool.”
And writing in his analysis, Ian Doyle says: “It was a moment that encapsulated not only another superb night for Curtis Jones, but also how Liverpool’s refashioned midfield is proving the key to success under Arne Slot.
With the Reds having gone ahead and the Anfield crowd whipped up into a frenzy, Jones received possession inside his own half, turned away from Jude Bellingham, evaded a challenge from Luka Modric and then ran away from Eduardo Camavinga to prompt an attack that eventually ended with Alexis Mac Allister firing narrowly wide
