Liverpool manager Arne Slot credited both the quality of the opposition and the passion of the Anfield crowd for inspiring his side’s breathless 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Alexis Mac Allister headed home the game’s only goal in the second half of the well-earned win as Slot’s men handed the LaLiga leaders their first defeat this season in Europe’s elite competition.
“Impressive because we played against an incredible side, a team that’s on an unbelievable run of form, only lost once, won all their other games,” Slot said. ”If you then can win against them and perform how we have, that’s very positive.
“It’s been [some] tricky weeks for us, many away games, hardly any rest in between every single game. It helps if you can play in front of these fans and you can play in front of Real Madrid because I think that brings the best out of my players and out of our fans.
“A great performance. It could have been a bit more maybe.”
The Dutchman also praised his side’s defensive discipline, especially in keeping Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior quiet.
“I said before the game that they have scored 26 goals in LaLiga, and Mbappe and Vinicius together have 24 goal contributions. So, if you want to win this game you have to make sure that these two are not on the scoresheet.”
🗣️ "He and the team are getting fitter and fitter, and that is the first step we have to make to get results again."
Arne Slot on Conor Bradley and Alexis Mac Allister 🏃♂️ pic.twitter.com/U0NF6GgzLk
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) November 5, 2025
Slot singled out 22-year-old right back Conor Bradley for his standout performance.
“Conor was outstanding. To be up against Vinicius so many times one v one is not for everyone. He did outstanding today.”
The victory was Liverpool’s second in a row after their 2-0 Premier League win over Aston Villa on Saturday ended a dreadful run of four consecutive league losses and six in seven games across all competitions.
“We had a very bad run of form in terms of results. No excuse in the world can make up for us losing so many games,” Slot said.
“But we had to play a lot of games in a small amount of time. Tonight, we played against a team that played on Saturday as well, so the both of us had two days rest.
“And it’s helpful to play in a home game, because from the last eight, I think we played six away from home.”
Slot’s men climbed to sixth in the table with nine points after four games of the league stage, one place below Real who are level on points but lead on goal difference.
Liverpool were ferocious from the opening whistle and kept Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois on his toes before Mac Allister finally broke the deadlock in the 61st minute.
Dominik Szoboszlai, who was outstanding all night, sent in a beautiful free kick and the Argentinian rose the highest to head home and send Anfield into raptures.
Also on Tuesday night, Mikel Merino scored twice, after a first-half Bukayo Saka penalty, as Arsenal swept aside Slavia Prague 3-0 to maintain their 100% record in the Champions League with four wins from four games without conceding a goal.
England winger Saka put the Premier League leaders ahead in the 32nd minute at the Fortuna Arena after Gabriel’s header hit Slavia captain Lukas Provod’s raised hand and a VAR review confirmed the handball.
Merino, replacing Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres who was injured at the weekend, made it 2-0 on the volley after 36 seconds of the second half after a cross from the unmarked Leandro Trossard.
He put Arsenal 3-0 ahead in the 68th minute with a header flicked past goalkeeper Jakub Markovic after Declan Rice lofted the ball into the area.
Arsenal, who brought on 15-year-old Max Dowman in the second half to become the youngest-ever player in the Champions League, have not conceded a goal in eight successive matches in all competitions - equalling a club record set in 1903.
Slavia are still without a win in the league phase.
Tottenham Hotspur central defender Micky van de Ven scored a sensational solo goal in his side’s 4-0 rout of FC Copenhagen.
The flying Dutchman won the ball in his own penalty area in the 64th minute and sped the length of the pitch through a flimsy defence to smash home a shot and make it 3-0.
Brennan Johnson had put a dominant Spurs side ahead in the 19th minute and Wilson Odobert doubled the advantage in the 51st after good work by Randal Kolo Muani.
Johnson was shown a red card four minutes after Odobert’s goal for a late tackle on Marcos Lopez but rather than slow Tottenham down the hosts put their foot on the accelerator.
After Van de Ven’s magic moment, substitute Joao Palhinha was played in by Cristian Romero following another sweeping forward move to make it 4-0.
Richarlison struck the bar with a 90th-minute penalty.
Bayern Munich made it 16 wins from 16 games this season to underline their credentials as early Champions League favourites, beating holders Paris St Germain 2-1 away as Luis Diaz scored two goals and was shown a red card.
The Colombian winger struck twice before being sent off for a violent tackle on Achraf Hakimi on the stroke of halftime.
PSG, who reduced the arrears through Joao Neves, dominated possession after the break but failed to make it fully count and slipped to their first defeat in the competition since last season’s quarter-final second leg against Aston Villa.
The result kept Bayern top of the 36-team league on a maximum 12 points, with PSG in third, three points adrift.
Reuters