Liverpool may have been forced to deal with an injury crisis of their own against the incumbent Champions League holders, but Arne Slot’s men more than got on with the job.
The likes of Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold (included in the squad), Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota and Harvey Elliott (included in the squad) didn’t play a single minute of action against Real Madrid.
Despite that, the Reds secured a very-well deserved 2-0 victory over Los Blancos to add another victim to the Arne Slot penitentiary.
Conor Bradley, valued at just £7.9m (according to Football Transfers’ valuation system), played a big part in Liverpool asserting their dominance over the Spanish champions.
Conor Bradley was exceptional against Real Madrid
Liverpool fullback Conor Bradley and Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe in the Champions League.
(Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Forget the penalty Kylian Mbappe missed in the second half. It looked like the Frenchman’s spirit was broken early on after our Northern Irish fullback’s perfectly timed sliding tackle deprived him of a one-on-one with Caoimhin Kelleher.
From that point on, it’s far from unfair, in our view, to suggest the 21-year-old had the World Cup winner figured out throughout the 90 minutes of action.
To put things into context, it took Andy Robertson’s soft challenge on Lucas Vazquez for the former PSG star to secure his only shot on goal – a penalty later saved by Caoimhin Kelleher.
Rave reviews from Danny Murphy
Our Academy graduate rightly earned his flowers from Danny Murphy after the full-time whistle.
“When you see a young player playing arguably the biggest game of his career against one of the best players in Europe in such a huge occasion and a big pressured atmosphere and perform like that – it’s incredible really,” the former Red told BBC Sport.
“I think he’s got a great future.”
Conor Bradley was next level tonight 💪👏 What a performance. #MOTD #UCL pic.twitter.com/eOEwnXSkOS
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) November 27, 2024
Which right-back, Real Madrid?
Which right-back did Real Madrid actually want to buy again? All joking aside, this was the kind of outing which will have surely reassured Arne Slot that the backline would remain in safe hands even without the world-class presence of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Conor Bradley racked up a 7.6/10 rating on Sofascore on the night along with a host of impressive stats:
→ 1 assist
→ 1 key pass
→ 84% pass success rate (41/49)
→ 1 last man tackle
→ 7/11 ground duels won
→ 1 aerial duel won
→ 1 clearance
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