How did Alexander-Arnold do on Real Madrid debut?

Trent Alexander-Arnold was heavily involved in a mixed debut for Real Madrid as the post-Liverpool spell of his career truly began.

The 26-year-old, with the name Trent and number 12 on the back of his white kit, started for Xabi Alonso’s side in their Club World Cup opener against Al-Hilal, which ended 1-1.

If it had not fully sunk in that Alexander-Arnold had left his boyhood club after 354 games and a clean sweep of all the major trophies it surely has now.

The England man – an £8.4m signing whose Liverpool deal was due to expire on 30 June – was involved in both the good and bad side of things before being replaced in the 65th minute.

“An amazing day to make my debut for Real Madrid, almost what every player dreams of,” he told Dazn afterwards.

“Incredible, I felt the support from the moment I signed for the club. Sensational.

“The fanbase is truly global all over the world. You feel it every single day.”

The full-back was looking to reinvent himself slightly after his acrimonious exit from Anfield, speaking Spanish at his unveiling and adopting his first name instead of his surname on the back of his shirt.

He was one of two debutants in Alonso’s first game in charge, along with ex-Bournemouth centre-back Dean Huijsen.

Alexander-Arnold got off to a bit of a shaky start but improved as the game went on.

On three different occasions he was caught out of position as Al-Hilal broke down Real’s right-hand side and created opportunities. One of those was when he lost the ball on the halfway line.

He was able to complete the simple passes but failed when he tried his more ambitious balls, including a crossfield effort that flew over Vinicius Jr’s head.

Hassan Al Tambakti beat him in the air to head wide from a corner.

But then things seemed to pick up for him – and he had a hand in their goal.

Alexander-Arnold cut out a pass from Salem Al Dawsari in the right-back position and passed to Gonzalo Garcia. Moments later Garcia capped off a swift counter-attack to give Madrid the lead.

He also blocked an Al Dawsari shot.

At half-time his passing accuracy at 84% was only behind Vinicius for Real players, but in the second half he did not misplace a pass.

He was playing further forward, in the attacking midfield position at times, picking out team-mates.

And in one impressive move he got the ball in the centre circle and skipped past Kalidou Koulibaly in a good run forward before being tackled. Moments later he had the ball back and swung a cross into the box.

By the time he came off he had played more crosses (five), entered the final third of the pitch (12) and had more passes in the final third of the pitch (16) than any of his team-mates.

Only one Real player had more touches than his 57 at that stage.

Better at attacking than defending has been one of the most common ways to describe Alexander-Arnold’s career to date.

A full-back who bombed forward, and sometimes in a hybrid right-back/midfield role.

For a while, then England boss Gareth Southgate even tried him as a regular midfielder.

He left Anfield with 23 goals and 86 assists as he almost changed what the idea of a full-back can be.

So all eyes were on how he would fare with a new team.

“We know Trent Alexander-Arnold’s quality on the ball,” said former Newcastle and Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given on Dazn.

“He is a phenomenal player.

“Real Madrid in the Spanish league will have a lot of possession and Trent will play higher up the pitch.

“He will be questioned in this tournament defensively as they come up against stronger opposition. Can he step up?

“He said he wanted to go there and win the Ballon d’Or. That’s a big statement in itself.”

Alonso lined up with a standard back four in Miami – as opposed to the wing-back system he enjoyed great success with at Bayer Leverkusen.

Alexander-Arnold played at right-back and did get involved in midfield too.

But as the graphics above show he did not get as involved as much centrally as he did in his last start for Liverpool, a 3-1 loss at Chelsea on 4 May.

And he got involved in deeper positions too, to the right side of the penalty box, which is a place he was not seen as often in that game at Stamford Bridge.

But he attempted more crossfield balls than he did at Chelsea (as evidenced by the graphics below).

However – and it is something he might have to get used to until he settles in – he did not take any set-pieces for Real.

Newcastle striker Callum Wilson, who has been in England squads with the defender, said: “I have not seen as many people strike a ball as cleanly as him. Free-kicks, corners, set-pieces, he is going to add that to their game.

Alexander-Arnold surprised everyone at his unveiling when he appeared to speak in fluent Spanish.

That had riled up some Liverpool fans who claimed it meant he knew he was going to Madrid for a long time and had already learned the language.

After his debut he asked Dazn if he could speak in English, saying “after playing a game, it is hard to concentrate that much to speak Spanish”.

When asked how long he had been learning Spanish, he said: “A couple of months. It was something important that I had to do.

“It is important to show the intent that I want to embrace the culture and adapt as best as possible.”

Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, watching the game as a pundit, seemed dubious at the speed in which Alexander-Arnold claimed to learn the language.