Alex KirklandBeth LindopCloseBeth LindopCorrespondentBased in Liverpool, Beth Lindop is ESPN’s Liverpool correspondent and also covers the WSL and UWCL.Follow on XNov 4, 2025, 06:26 PM ET
play1:05What went wrong for Real Madrid against Liverpool?Ale Moreno discusses Xabi Alonso’s tactical decisions in Real Madrid’s 0-1 defeat to Liverpool.
Nicol: Szoboszlai was ‘world class’ vs. Real Madrid (1:22)Steve Nicol analyses Arne Slot’s Liverpool performance as he believes they ‘outplayed’ Real Madrid in their 1-0 win in the Champions League at Anfield. (1:22)
What went wrong for Real Madrid against Liverpool?Ale Moreno discusses Xabi Alonso’s tactical decisions in Real Madrid’s 0-1 defeat to Liverpool.
Liverpool’s resurgence continues, but this is just the start
Bradley shines as Alexander-Arnold gets unhappy reunion
LIVERPOOL, England — Alexis Mac Allister scored the winning goal as Liverpool’s revival continued with a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League.
Liverpool thought they had earned a penalty in the first half when referee Istvan Kovacs judged Aurélien Tchouaméni to have handled the ball, but VAR ruled the midfielder’s arms were in a natural position.
Much of the buildup to the game had been dominated by talk of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s return to Anfield, and the defender was jeered when he was introduced from the bench in the 78th minute. Kylian Mbappé came closest for the visitors in the second half, with his stabbed effort drifting wide of the post. But Liverpool held out to secure a win that moves them up to sixth in the Champions League table. — Beth Lindop
What a difference a week can make. Only six days ago, Liverpool’s season was on the brink after a rotten run of six defeats in seven games. They had crashed out of the Carabao Cup at the hands of Crystal Palace, with their hopes of defending their Premier League title growing bleaker with every passing matchday.
Fast-forward to now, and the picture at Anfield looks vastly different. After bouncing back in the league with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa, Liverpool turned in their most impressive display of the season against Madrid.
Of course, this does not mean that Liverpool are “back.” The season is a marathon, not a sprint, and there will be plenty of other tough tests to come, starting with a trip to Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday. But, for now at least, it seems the good times are back at Anfield. Now it is up to Slot and his players to keep them going. — Lindop
– Report: Mac Allister heads Liverpool to win over Real Madrid – Trent Alexander-Arnold pens heartbreaking note to Diogo Jota
Even before a ball was kicked Tuesday night, the Liverpool fans made their feelings very clear. While former star Alexander-Arnold watched proceedings from the Real Madrid bench, the Kop serenaded his replacement at right back with chants of “There’s only one Conor Bradley.”
Absence, it seems, has not made the heart grow fonder. But if Bradley’s star continues to rise, Alexander-Arnold’s departure might become less difficult to swallow. — Lindop
Mbappé looked unstoppable this season — until he got to Anfield. Mbappé had scored 18 goals in 14 games going into this match — five of them in the Champions League — but against Liverpool, he rarely threatened. It was a throwback to last season, when Mbappé began the campaign looking unsure of himself, culminating in a missed penalty at Anfield in Madrid’s 2-0 defeat on Nov. 27. He missed another in LaLiga a week later with Mbappé subsequently describing the spell as “rock bottom.”
His best chance came in the 75th minute, from a Vinícius Júnior pass. Mbappé’s shot, somewhat mishit, spun wide. On the sideline, Alonso jumped in frustration, knowing that a promising situation — one of just a few all night — had passed Madrid by. — Kirkland
Ale Moreno discusses Xabi Alonso’s tactical decisions in Real Madrid’s 0-1 defeat to Liverpool.
Mac Allister could be forgiven for thinking he was experiencing a bout of déjà vu. As the midfielder was ushered over to the side of the pitch to receive his Player of the Match award on Tuesday night, he might well have cast his mind back to this time last year, when he also earned the accolade after a star turn against Real Madrid.
On that night in 2024, Mac Allister opened the scoring in a 2-0 win for Slot’s side, during a spell in which he appeared to be operating at the peak of his powers. This season, it has been a different story for the Argentina international, whose campaign was curtailed last term by an unspecified injury that also disrupted his preseason.
Van Dijk was laughing. In the 47th minute, Courtois had just saved the giant center back’s goal-bound header, and the feeling at Anfield was: Isn’t this getting a bit ridiculous? Even Courtois allowed himself a brief smile at this latest miraculous intervention, before moving to organize his under-fire defense.
Courtois and Liverpool have history. The goalkeeper’s performance in the 2022 Champions League final in Paris — he made a record nine saves, meaning Liverpool’s dominance went unrewarded as Madrid won 1-0 — was unforgettable. Here, there were eight saves. They didn’t contribute to a Madrid win this time, but they did ensure this remained a close contest, when at times, the balance of play was anything but. — Kirkland
Picking an extra midfielder in Eduardo Camavinga didn’t help, and Alonso’s substitutions — introducing Rodrygo, Alexander-Arnold and Brahim Díaz — didn’t change anything. Alonso insists that his Madrid are still a team under construction, in the early stages of a process, and a long way from the finished article. This display, against a top team — despite Liverpool’s recent Premier League struggles — reinforces that idea. If Madrid are to make an impression in Europe this season, they’ll have to improve, fast. — Alex Kirkland
A year later, this defeat at Anfield wasn’t Mbappé’s fault. He lacked service, as the attack around him failed to function, and Liverpool kept Madrid at arm’s length. But the brief moments of danger he was able to generate didn’t go his way, either. Seventeen minutes in, there was a first shot, flying high over the bar. Twenty minutes later, there was an attempted backheel to no one, bringing a promising counterattack to a halt. Midway through the second half, he collided with Virgil van Dijk — never an enjoyable experience — and not long afterward, when an Álvaro Carreras run ended with a ball across the six-yard box, Mbappé was nowhere to be seen.
But he still managed to make himself the standout against Madrid, capping off an accomplished midfield display with the match-wining goal. His drop-off in form has undoubtedly contributed to Liverpool’s recent malaise, and it is no coincidence that his two best performances of the campaign — against Villa and Madrid — have coincided with the Reds’ two best team displays. Keeping Mac Allister fit and firing will be key to ensuring that Liverpool’s resurgence is not just a flash in the pan. — Lindop
The save from van Dijk wasn’t Courtois’ first outstanding stop of the game, or his second. He had already pulled off two hard-to-believe saves on Szoboszlai in the first half, one from point-blank range. The van Dijk save wasn’t the last, either. Just a minute later, Courtois tipped a shot from Ekitike over, just as impressively. Then he saved a Szoboszlai free kick. When Mac Allister’s goal came, even Courtois was helpless. The header was too close, too powerful, flashing past his head before he had time to react.
Nicol: Szoboszlai was ‘world class’ vs. Real Madrid (1:22)Steve Nicol analyses Arne Slot’s Liverpool performance as he believes they ‘outplayed’ Real Madrid in their 1-0 win in the Champions League at Anfield. (1:22)
Steve Nicol analyses Arne Slot’s Liverpool performance as he believes they ‘outplayed’ Real Madrid in their 1-0 win in the Champions League at Anfield. (1:22)
CloseBeth LindopCorrespondentBased in Liverpool, Beth Lindop is ESPN’s Liverpool correspondent and also covers the WSL and UWCL.Follow on X
The resilience, tenacity and star quality that was sorely missing during the month of October has returned in abundance following the turn of the month, and head coach Arne Slot — who had come under fire for the first time in his Liverpool career — will now rightly be commended for galvanizing a team that not so long ago looked out of both hope and ideas.
It has been a mixed campaign for the Northern Ireland international, with both form and fitness preventing him from truly staking his claim on the position Alexander-Arnold redefined across his glittering Anfield career. But against Madrid, Bradley made sure to show the watching world why Liverpool believe he is the perfect successor to the England international, defending brilliantly against the tricky Vinícius Júnior to help keep Liverpool’s fourth clean sheet of the season.