Liverpool put in an excellent home display en route to a commanding 1-0 win over Real Madrid at Anfield in the Champions League. Check out the best facts and Opta data from the game with our Liverpool vs Real Madrid stats page.
Liverpool made it consecutive wins for the first time since September with a well-deserved 1–0 victory over Real Madrid at Anfield in the Champions League. Alexis Mac Allister scored the only goal just after the hour mark as Arne Slot’s side built on the positive momentum from their Premier League win against Aston Villa last weekend.
In truth, the 1–0 scoreline probably flattered the visitors, who would have been beaten far more comfortably were it not for the heroics of Thibaut Courtois.
This was a much-needed, hugely encouraging performance from the Reds, who showed none of the signs of a side supposedly in the midst of a crisis. They were worthy victors: Liverpool generated 2.58 expected goals and restricted Madrid to just 0.45 at the other end.
Liverpool 1-0 Real Madrid xG Shot Map
For much of the game it felt like the contest was distilled into two duels. One down Liverpool’s right, where Conor Bradley was tasked with shutting down Vinícius Júnior. The other inside Real Madrid’s goal, where Courtois seemed intent on single-handedly denying first Dominik Szoboszlai and then the entire Liverpool team.
Three times in the first half the Belgian was at full stretch to frustrate the Hungarian, and the first of those saves was genuinely world-class.
Florian Wirtz – who without a doubt enjoyed his best outing in a Liverpool shirt – raced onto a loose ball behind the Madrid defence and squared perfectly for Szoboszlai, who had only Courtois to beat. But the Madrid goalkeeper raced off his line, made himself huge and somehow blocked the effort.
That chance was one of five created by Wirtz before the break, the most by any Liverpool player in the first half of a match in any competition since Mohamed Salah did so against Brentford in January 2025.
Seeing Courtois repel Liverpool in the Champions League felt familiar. Tonight saw him make four or more first-half saves in a Champions League match for the seventh time in his career; three of those occasions have come against Liverpool.
Saves five and six arrived just after the restart. First, Courtois somehow clawed away Virgil van Dijk’s point-blank header. From the resulting corner, Hugo Ekitike rose to power a header goalwards, only for Courtois to extend himself yet again. Both Van Dijk and Ekitike could only smile in disbelief: “We’re being done by Courtois again, aren’t we?” their wry smiles seemed to say.
But one man can only do so much. After Jude Bellingham conceded a soft free-kick on the edge of the area, Szoboszlai whipped in a wicked delivery and Mac Allister simply needed the slightest glance to divert it past Courtois.
Madrid struggled to create throughout the game. Kylian Mbappé produced their best chance, side-footing across goal from a Vinícius square ball.
Even the introduction of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was greeted by a chorus of boos on his return to Anfield, failed to add a spark to Xabi Alonso’s side.
Overall, Madrid managed just eight shots worth 0.45 xG, their lowest tally in any competition in more than a year (0.47 vs Villarreal in La Liga, October 2024).
Despite a wobble in their Premier League title defence, Liverpool are making good progress in Europe, with three wins from four games. If they can transfer the intensity from tonight into their domestic fixtures, they’ll remain a serious threat on all fronts.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Liverpool vs Real Madrid stats from their Champions League meeting at Anfield.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Liverpool vs Real Madrid: Select Post-Match Facts
Liverpool went winless in eight consecutive UEFA Champions League meetings with Real Madrid between 2014-15 and 2022-23 (D1 L7), but have now beaten Los Blancos in both of the last two seasons.
Only Bayern Munich (11), Juventus (9) and Milan (7) have inflicted more defeats on Real Madrid in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League than Liverpool (5 – level with Internazionale and Manchester City).
Real Madrid recorded just two shots on target tonight, their fewest in a UEFA Champions League game since their 1-0 win over Liverpool in the 2021-22 final (also 2) – they didn’t manage a single one in the second half, the first time that has happened since the 2023-24 quarter finals at the Etihad against Manchester City.
Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister scored his third goal in the UEFA Champions League and first since last November, when he also put the Reds 1-0 up at Anfield against Real Madrid.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois conceded with the first shot on target he faced against Marseille on MD1 of this season’s UEFA Champions League, but then made 19 consecutive saves in the competition before he was beaten with Liverpool’s eighth shot on target tonight.
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