Buoyed by a frenetic Anfield, Liverpool FC brought a real energy performance to the pitch, handing Real Madrid their first Champions League defeat of the season.
The English won 1-0 (0-0) on the fourth matchday of the group stage and, like Real, have three wins and one defeat. Alexis Mac Allister (61st minute) scored the goal of the day for the third-placed Premier League team, who appear to have overcome their crisis.
Liverpool coach Arne Slot chose Florian Wirtz in the starting line-up, even though his team won against Aston Villa at the weekend without the German in the starting line-up, ending their four-game losing streak in the Premier League. On the other hand, long-time Liverpool player Trent Alexander-Arnold had to watch his return to his old place of work and took a seat on the bench.
Liverpool with more energy in the game
The game started off very intensely. Driven loudly by Anfield Road, Mac Allister had the first notable finish of the game after ten minutes, but shot well over the Madrilenians’ goal from the edge of the penalty area. Overall, the “Reds” appeared more determined in the early stages and also more powerful in counter-pressing. Real were clearly keen to secure their own defense and control the game without taking any major risks.
In the 23rd minute, Liverpool’s courageous right-back, Conor Bradley, forced his chasing opponent Vinicius Junior into a foul, which referee Istvan Kovacs punished with a yellow card. The duel between Bradley and Vinicius Junior was the one that was seen most often in the first half. Madrid tried almost exclusively from their own left side of the attack, but Bradley had everything under control.
Shortly afterwards, with the best chance to date, Wirtz took the ball deep in the opponent’s half extremely carefully, started towards the baseline and brought the ball perfectly flat into the middle, where Thibaut Courtois had rushed out of his goal and, like a handball goalkeeper, just parried Dominik Szoboszlai’s shot and thus prevented Liverpool from taking the lead (27th).
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (back) saves against Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai (r.)
Two penalties are in the air – but none are whistled
Two minutes later, Kovacs awarded Liverpool a free kick from the edge of the penalty area after Aurelien Tchouameni had received the ball from close range on his relatively flat arm while trying to block a shot. After communicating with video referee Bastian Dankert, Kovacs looked at the scene again and reversed the decision – justifiable, but lucky for Real, because the Frenchman was probably just inside the penalty area during the action; the alternative would have been a penalty.
On the other hand, there were two tricky duels in the penalty area before the break, in which a penalty was briefly in the air. During one of them, Bradley touched Vinicius Junior’s face with his hand, who then made (too) much of the scene – so there was no penalty. Here too, the referees tended to be right.
Referee Istvan Kovacs (center) discusses with players.
In the 43rd minute, Courtois parried a long-range shot from Szoboszlai, and in the 45th, Giorgi Mamardashvili saved a shot from Jude Bellingham at the near corner. Although it was 0-0 at the break, it had been an eventful and entertaining first half in which Liverpool had come closer to taking the lead.
Courtois resists for a long time, but then comes Mac Allister
In the second half, Real were initially lucky that Courtois was wide awake: the Belgian shot-stopper brilliantly parried the headers from Virgil van Dijk and Hugo Ekitike within less than 30 seconds (48′). The Reds should have been leading by now, after just under an hour the statisticians had recorded 13:5 for Liverpool. But the 14th was there. After a free-kick cross from Szoboszlai from the right half of the field, Mac Allister created some space, was barely offside and headed powerfully and centrally towards the goal. This time Courtois couldn’t get his hands up in time and the ball landed in the net for the overdue 1-0.
Real coach Xabi Alonso reacted to the deficit, replacing his central midfield clearer Eduardo Camavinga and bringing in offensive man Rodrygo, who was supposed to enliven the deserted right side. At first it hardly brought any change, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Co. were almost invisible in the second half. The hosts defended with all the energy that spilled from the stands onto the pitch, making every meter and throwing themselves into every duel.
Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister (r.) against Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe
Whistle concert Alexander Arnolds Substitution
In the 75th minute, Real had their first real chance of the second half: Mbappe narrowly missed the top right corner of the goal from the edge of the penalty area – Mamardashvili probably wouldn’t have been able to reach it. For the final phase, Alonso also brought Alexander-Arnold onto the field, who was supposed to boost the Spaniards’ final offensive after his injury had finally recovered (81′). When he came on as a substitute for Arda Güler, the Englishman was greeted with a shrill concert of whistles.
On the other hand, substitutes Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah had a double chance in the 86th minute, but were denied by Courtois and Eder Militao’s leg respectively. The hosts had to tremble until the end, but tough tackles from Bradley and Co., which were celebrated frenetically in the stands, prevented Madrid from having another chance.