In a battle between European giants held at Anfield, the team won a hard-fought 1-0 win against Real Madrid, with Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister scoring the winning goal in the second half, and Madrid credited goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois for keeping the score in check.
Trent Alexander-Arnold received a hostile reception when he returned to Liverpool as a substitute on Tuesday, but the home crowd cheered the Reds over the line in what could be a turning point in the season.
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After the first four games in the league, both teams are tied on nine points.
Liverpool had lost six of their previous eight games in all competitions, but beat Aston Villa on Saturday to end their run as manager Arne Slott relied on a more experienced and reliable squad selection.
Florian Wirtz replaced Cody Gakpo in the only change from the weekend, with Liverpool once again looking like the team that won the Premier League title last season.
Madrid have lost just twice in 20 games since former Liverpool favorite Xabi Alonso took charge, but turned to Courtois to avoid a scoreline similar to their only defeat of the season, 5-2 against Atletico Madrid.
The Belgian broke Liverpool’s hearts when Los Blancos won 1-0 in Paris when the two teams faced off in the 2022 Champions League final with the man of the match.
Courtois’ busy night began when Wirtz teed up Dominik Szoboszlai, but Szoboszlai was unable to beat the former Chelsea stopper from close range.
Madrid were later rescued after a VAR review determined that Aurélien Choameny’s arm was in its natural position when the Frenchman blocked a shot inside his own area.
With Liverpool close to taking the lead, Courtois was tested again by Szoboszlai’s powerful shot.
Kylian Mbappe missed the visitors’ best chance to equalize with a wide diagonal shot from the edge of the box.
Mbappé’s brilliant form has been a key factor in Madrid’s strong start to the season. The French striker has failed to score just twice in his previous 17 games for club and country.
It took 45 minutes for Madrid’s star-studded front line to get a shot on target, when Jude Bellingham lightly cleared inside the box and fired a low shot that Giorgi Mamadashvili blocked with his foot.
Courtois continued to fight back against Slott’s side from the start of the second half, winning powerful headers from Virgil van Dijk and Hugo Ekitike, and once again denying Szoboszlai’s free-kick.
It took an hour for the English champions, but in the end Mac Allister’s header from Szoboszlai’s free-kick defeated the Madrid giants number one.
Alexander-Arnold, making his first appearance since September 16 after suffering a hamstring injury, was met with a chorus of boos nine minutes into the game. A mural of Alexander-Arnold next to Anfield was vandalized hours before the match.
Meanwhile, Vinicius Junior was well adjusted by Alexander-Arnold’s former assistant manager Conor Bradley as the Spanish giants failed to score for the first time this season.
Courtois made a great stop at the end of Gakpo to ensure a nervy finale, but Liverpool’s much-criticized defense held on for their first Champions League clean sheet of the season.
“It was a good game against a really good team,” Mac Allister told Amazon Prime after the game.
“It’s an important win, but we know it doesn’t mean anything because we finished the first (phase) of the Champions League last season in first place and then we were eliminated quite early on. So we need to keep moving forward.”
Courtois said Madrid needed to be calmer and play better, saying they had made too many mistakes near the penalty area.
“Games like this are all about the details, but we need to be better away from home against big teams,” he said.
Elsewhere, Bayern Munich have won 16 games out of 16 this season and underlined their credentials as early Champions League favorites with a 2-1 away victory over holders Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday as Luis Diaz was shown a red card for scoring twice.
The Colombian winger scored two goals before being sent off for a violent tackle on Achraf Hakimi just before half-time.
PSG, who had reduced their arrears thanks to the efforts of coach Joao Neves, dominated the ball after the break but were unable to reach a full count, falling to their first defeat in this tournament since last season’s quarter-final second leg against Aston Villa.
Tottenham also had their first goal scorer, Brennan Johnson, sent off, and although their scorer was also sent off, they still achieved a 4-0 victory over Copenhagen.
Elsewhere, Atlético Madrid beat Union Saint-Giroise 3-1, Juventus hit back with a 1-1 win against Sporting, Olympiakos and PSV drew 1-1 and Monaco defeated Bodo/Glimt 1-0.
Arsenal won 3-0 against Slavia Prague, while Napoli held out a goalless draw against Eintracht Frankfurt.
