In a battle between the European giants at Anfield, Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister scored a second-half winner to defeat Real Madrid. The team is grateful to goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois for holding the score at a low level.
On his late-season return to Liverpool on Tuesday, Trent Alexander-Arnold received a hostile reception, and the home crowd roared the Reds over the line for what might turn the team’s season into a turning point.
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From their first four league games, both teams are currently tied for ninth place.
Liverpool had lost six of their previous eight games, but Arne Slot’s team selection, which had been more tried and tested, was able to stop the rot with a Saturday victory over Aston Villa.
In the only change from the weekend, Cody Gakpo, who had been replaced, was replaced by Florian Wirtz, who Liverpool looked more like the team that won the Premier League title last year.
Since former Liverpool manager Xabi Alonso took over, Madrid had only lost once this season, winning 5-2 at Atletico Madrid, but they rely on Courtois to avoid a scoreline that was comparable to that of their only previous defeat.
When Los Blancos won the 2022 Champions League final with a man-of-the-match performance, the Belgian broke Liverpool’s hearts in Paris by winning 1-0.
Dominik Szoboszlai, who was a former Chelsea stopper, was a failure to beat the former Chelsea stopper from point blank range, which was the start of Courtois’ busy night.
A VAR review determined that Aurelien Tchouameni’s arm was in a natural position as he blocked a shot inside his own box, saving Madrid.
As Liverpool pressed for the opener, a thunderous Szoboszlai shot put Courtois on the line once more.
When he skewed wide from the edge of the box, Kylian Mbappe wasted the visitors’ best chance to equalize.
Madrid’s excellent campaign start has been largely due to Mbappe’s scintillating form. In his 17 previous games for the club and nation, the French striker had only managed to score once.
When Jude Bellingham jacked clear inside the box and fired a low effort that Giorgi Mamardashvili had blocked with his feet, Madrid’s star-studded forward line managed to pull one back in 45 minutes.
In a blistering opening half, Courtois continued to defy Slot’s men by denying Szoboszlai once more from a free kick as he deflected away powerful headers from Virgil van Dijk and Hugo Ekitike.
The giant Madrid number one was eventually defeated when Mac Allister fired in a header from Szoboszlai’s free kick after an hour-long battle between the English champions.
Nine minutes prior to the start of Alexander-Arnold’s first game since September 16 when he was injured in his hamstrings, a chorus of boos greeted him. In the hours leading up to the game, an Alexander-Arnold mural had been vandalized.
Conor Bradley, Alexander-Arnold’s once-deputy, performed well for Vinicius Junior despite the Spanish giants’ first goal of the season.
For their first Champions League clean sheet of the season, Courtois kept one more impressive stop from Gakpo for a raunchy finale, but Liverpool’s highly critical defense held on.
After the game, Mac Allister declared, “It was a good game against a really good team.”
We know it’s important, but we know it doesn’t mean much because we finished first in the Champions League’s first half last year and then came out a while early. Therefore, we must continue.”
Courtois argued that Madrid needed to play more composed and composed, not to mention making too many errors in the penalty area.
We need to improve against big teams away from home, he said, but “a match like this is determined by the small details.”
Bayern Munich defeated Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 away on Tuesday to show their credentials as early Champions League favorites thanks to Luis Diaz’s two goals and red card. The result was also noteworthy as Bayern Munich recorded 16 victories from 16 games this season.
On the stroke of half-time, the Colombian winger struck twice before being violently offended for a tackle on Achraf Hakimi.
After the break, PSG dominated possession but did not make it fully count, falling to their first defeat in the competition since last season’s quarterfinal second leg defeat Aston Villa.
Brennan Johnson was sent off after scoring the opener for Tottenham, but they still came out on top with a 4-0 win over Copenhagen.
In other matches, Bodo/Glimt defeated Atletico Madrid 3-1, Juventus held on for a 1-1 draw against Sporting, Olympiacos and PSV held on goal, and Monaco held on.
Source: Aljazeera
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