Liverpool get Real win ahead of City visit

calcutta: As Anfield rosebush to think back Diogo Jota, Vinicius Jr strike down. Instead, he was shoulder charged by Conor Bradley. Twenty minutes in, it was the third time Bradley had stopped Real Madrid’s left-side attacker. Two minutes later, he pushed up forcing a foul from Vinicius Jr which got the Brazilian booked. The tone for the night had been set.

With Trent Alexander-Arnold in attendance, a Liverpool right-back hitting the high notes felt more than a subplot in this contest. Having struggled to seal a place in the team, this was his third full game in 25-26, Bradley had now done well in two straight games including the 2-0 win against Aston Villa in the Premier League.

“There’s one Conor Bradley,” Anfield chanted after he moved past Vinicius Jr who had five goals, including one that won a Champions League final, and two assists in five games against Liverpool. The chant became a roar when Bradley snatched from Vinicius Jr; it crescendoed in second-half stoppage time when the Northern Ireland international retrieved a pass from Alexander-Arnold, Real’s new right-back who was roundly booed on arrival in the 81st minute, pass to no one.

“Outstanding,” said Arne Slot, the Liverpool head coach, of the 22-year-old after Tuesday’s 1-0 win. “To be up against Vinicius so many times one against one is not for everyone.”

Two clean sheets, two wins – this was the first time in all season that Real had failed to score and it was only the second match in 20 they had not won – means Liverpool are in a better place than when they managed to not concede only twice in 14 matches in all competitions.

Last year, they had beaten Real and then Manchester City. Six points adrift off leaders Arsenal and one off City, Liverpool visit Etihad on Sunday with Florian Wirtz, starting his first game in seven weeks, and Hugo Ekitike having looked good against Real, the defence cohesive and the midfield solid.

Bradley played a crucial part when Real came calling last November. Then, it was Kylian Mbappe he had reined in; his 18 defensive actions being the most in a match where he had also tested Thibaut Courtois and done what Dominik Szoboszlai did in the 61st minute on Tuesday: provide Alexis Mac Allister the assist. Then too Real had looked emaciated but poor health could have been explained by a number of first-team players being injured. Not so this time. Also, it was when Liverpool had won 13 of their last 14 matches.

The difference between then and now for Bradley, Slot said, was that he was out for five weeks due to injury after last year’s 2-0 win. “Here, three days after Aston Villa, he was against Vinicius for 90 minutes…”

With injuries to Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong, and the departure of Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool have had issues at right-back. What’s not to like if one academy product can take the place of another who spent 21 years at the club and helped Liverpool win six trophies in that time?

Bradley won all three tackles attempted and eight of his 13 duels but he and Alexander-Arnold are different kinds of players. Alexander-Arnold’s ability with defence-splitting passes and his on-pitch relationship with Mo Salah would be difficult to replicate. But Bradley can aggressively push forward and go on underlapping runs adding to Liverpool’s attacking options.

La Liga leaders by five points, Mbappe arriving with 21 goals in 17 matches, Real were the form team. It looked anything but. Mbappe’s mispass to Szoboszlai, Eduardo Camavinga miscontrolling Vinicius Jr’s pass, Jude Bellingham’s ball meant neither for Álvaro Carreras nor Vinicius Jr: you could choose any or all of the above to sum up their night.

Like last year, it would have been a rout but for Courtois. After Mac Allister drove wide, Courtois denied Szoboszlai thrice in the first half, the best of which was in the 27th minute when the Belgian steered away an attempted chip. Then, there were reflex saves to Virgil van Dijk and Ekitike headers off successive corner-kicks. Which meant that disjointed though Real were, things could have been different had Giorgi Mamardashvili not denied Bellingham and Mbappe not side-footed wide on the rare occasion that Vinicius Jr had wriggled past Bradley.

“I tried my best to keep the team in the game, but in the second half we committed too many fouls near the box and they’re good at that,” Courtois told Spanish broadcaster Movistar Plus.

One of them, by Bellingham on Ryan Gravenberch, led to Szoboszlai’s free kick, perfectly weighted and precisely positioned, being headed in by Mac Allister for his first goal of the season.

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