Conor Bradley has been described as “outstanding” by Arne Slot after the performance he put in against Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Bradley was one of Liverpool’s best players on the night with Vinicius Jr not getting anywhere near the goal.
His last-ditch tackles coupled with his attacking prowess made it close to impossible for the Brazilian to get around him, which resulted in him trying to get fouls by diving.
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A lot of questions have been asked about Liverpool’s right-back this term with neither Bradley nor Jeremie Frimpong playing all that well at the start of the term.
Conor Bradley of Liverpool and Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD4 match between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid C.F. at Anfield.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
However, if the Northern Irishman can keep his performances to this level, there’s no reason why he can’t thrive now that Trent Alexander-Arnold is gone.
Arne Slot was left in awe of Conor Bradley’s performance against Real Madrid
Going into the tie on Tuesday, many thought that Liverpool would end up getting pummelled.
Real Madrid have one of the best attacks in the world and with how fragile the Reds’ defence has been over the last few weeks, it felt like there was no way for it to end in Liverpool’s favour.
However, Bradley clearly had other ideas with Slot now lauding the right-back for his performance.
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“I told them before the game [that Real Madrid had] scored 26 goals in La Liga, and 24-goals from Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius so if you want to have any chance of winning this game, then we need to control those two,” he said to CBS Sports Golazo.
“And I think we did this outstanding and talking about an individual performance, Conor Bradley was outstanding today I think against Vinicius.”
Conor Bradley has cemented his place as Liverpool’s starting right-back
When Alexander-Arnold left, many were wondering whether Bradley would have what it takes to fill his boots.
That’s likely one of the reasons why Frimpong was brought in during the summer transfer window as it was clear that Slot needed another option at full-back.
And although most thought that the Dutchman would be the Reds’ first-choice since he’s been out injured, Bradley has made his place in the team untouchable.
Liverpool's Hungarian midfielder #08 Dominik Szoboszlai checks on Liverpool's Dutch defender #30 Jeremie Frimpong who had to go off after sustaining an injury during the UEFA Champions League football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Liverpool FC.
Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images
He may be a little hot-headed at times but as the season goes on and he gets more settled into his role, it’s hard to see why Slot would want to replace him.
The Northern Irishman will have another difficult task on his hands when Liverpool face Manchester City on Sunday as he’ll likely have to line up against Jeremy Doku who is notoriously fast.