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Having arrested their domestic losing streak against Aston Villa on Saturday, Liverpool now faced a sterner test as Real Madrid visited Anfield.
Arne Slot made just one change to that starting eleven, as Florian Wirtz came in for Cody Gakpo.
Xabi Alonso also made one change to the side that thrashed Valencia, as Eduardo Camavinga replaced Franco Mastantuono.
Liverpool started the much better side. They defended in a narrow 4-2-4 shape, with the wingers tucked in to help block up the centre, but close enough to get out to the Madrid full-backs quickly if they passed wide.
When they stepped up to press, a forward, usually Hugo Ekitiké, would move up onto a centre-back, while Alexis Mac Allister would step up behind him to pick up one of the deep midfielders, as the other forward, usually Dominik Szoboszlai, picked up the other.
The Liverpool wingers were tasked with pressuring the Madrid full-backs, while the Liverpool full-backs would push high to follow the Madrid wingers, and in the middle Ryan Gravenberch would pick up Jude Bellingham.
Putting the man on the ball under pressure while cutting off all their passing options, Liverpool were able to force Madrid into kicking long, and if they chose not to then they risked losing the ball in dangerous areas.
In order to help relieve this pressure, Bellingham began to drop deep, as did Camavinga – a position that suits him much better than the one high on the right he started in. They provided two extra passing options to enable Madrid to wrestle back some control, however it left just Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Junior in attack.
As Bellingham dropped deep, Mac Allister would often be drawn forward towards him, so Mbappé would drop off into midfield to receive the ball in this space. He doesn’t have the skillset to actually threaten from this position though. He would receive the ball, hold onto it for a few seconds, then pass it backwards or sideways.
To make matters worse, Mbappé doing this meant there was often no one attacking the box through the middle for Madrid. Vinicius was having a really difficult time against Conor Bradley, but with no one in the box to aim towards, he didn’t really have much choice: he either kept trying to dribble at Bradley, or he passed backwards. Those were his options.
Liverpool were having no such problems in possession. With Madrid trying to press them high, Liverpool were happy to play over the top of this pressure, generally to the right side. Rather than having the wingers stretch wide as they usually do, here Wirtz would come across so that Liverpool’s four attackers were all fairly close together. This meant that even if they lost the initial header, they could win the second ball, and they had teammates close by to combine with.
Szoboszlai’s willingness to drop deep in midfield, combined with Wirtz tucking inside, ensured Liverpool typically outnumbered Madrid in the centre, so they had little issue playing forward along the ground either.
Vinicius did often try to help with this by coming inside to pick up Szoboszlai, but this would just leave Bradley free out wide instead, ensuring Liverpool could continue to get the ball forward regardless.
It was only the brilliance of Thibaut Courtois that was denying Liverpool the lead.
In the second half, Alonso switched around Arda Güler and Camavinga, allowing the Frenchman to play in his more natural position, however he changed little else, and so the match continued on in mostly the same way.
Liverpool would finally get their goal on the hour mark. Gravenberch received the ball from a throw-in, then, unopposed, he simply pushed forward with it, eventually getting chopped down by Bellingham. At the resulting free-kick, Mac Allister would drop back from an offside position, ensuring he was goal-side, while Wirtz blocked off Dean Huijsen’s attempts to drop off, leaving his teammate free to head it home.
Rodrygo was introduced for Camavinga soon after, seeing Madrid switch to a 4-3-3, as Güler moved inside to partner Bellingham. This did nothing to actually disrupt Liverpool though, just rearranging rather than adding to the midfield.
Alonso then brought on Trent Alexander-Arnold and Brahim Diaz, but these were personnel changes rather than structural ones, and so Madrid stuck with the same failing strategy, allowing Liverpool to see the game out with no trouble.
It was a deserved victory for Liverpool, from what was quite easily their best performance of the season so far.
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