Liverpool got their helping of revenge on Wednesday evening as they took Real Madrid to the cleaners.
The Reds have been beaten one too many times by Los Blancos over recent years, with wounds still fresh from the Champions League final losses in 2018 and 2022.
A League Phase win on Wednesday was never going to erase memories of those defeats, but it felt like some demons were put to bed as Liverpool beat Real 2-0.
Another topic that perhaps needed banishing was the noise surrounding Jude Bellingham and his failed move to Anfield in 2023.
Bellingham was Liverpool’s top target at one stage 18 months ago and that Madrid pipped the Reds to the England midfielder hurt a fair bit at the time.
Fast forward to Wednesday night, though, and Bellingham suffered his own Anfield humbling. And after the whistle had blown on a rare defeat for Madrid, cameras inside the tunnel caught the 21-year-old doing something interesting.
Jude Bellingham player of Real Madrid during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD5 match between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid C.F. at ...
Photo by Antonio Villalba/Real Madrid via Getty Images
Jude Bellingham swaps Trent Alexander-Arnold shirt
One of the narratives that had been surrounding this game ahead of kick-off was that Trent Alexander-Arnold could be joining Real Madrid next summer.
Almost mercifully, Alexander-Arnold was not ready to start Wednesday’s game, instead spending the whole 90 minutes on the bench.
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The Liverpool academy graduate is of course huge friends with Bellingham, and his closeness to his England teammate is part of the reason he may ultimately join him in Madrid.
But having been robbed of the chance to come up against each other on the pitch, the pair obviously still wanted a memento of Wednesday’s encounter.
READ MORE: Jude Bellingham gives verdict on Liverpool after losing on first visit to Anfield for Real Madrid
As seen on TNT Sports after the game, Bellingham was spotted swapping an Alexander-Arnold shirt with his own.
Bizarrely, Trent himself was not there to do the switch, though. Instead, Bellingham collars Ryan Gravenberch as he wanders past towards the changing room.
After a brief conversation between the two midfielders and clearly after some time passing, Gravenberch re-appears with his teammate’s shirt before handing it to Bellingham.
No clues given by Alexander-Arnold
For much of the time since this draw was made, it had felt like all eyes would be on Alexander-Arnold on Wednesday evening.
The 26-year-old could well be a Real Madrid player by this time next year.
However, Trent’s injury meant that that narrative was handily nipped straight in the bud. As Liverpool were brilliant out on the pitch without him, the TNT Sports cameras did not even pan to him a single time during the game.
Part of the reason for that was because of the terrific nature of Conor Bradley’s performance. Bradley handled Kylian Mbappe brilliantly.
With Trent left to watch on, there were no clues given as to how he may be feeling about Real Madrid and Liverpool right now. But we certainly got a hint that if he does leave, the Reds will be absolutely fine without him.
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