Liverpool sink Real Madrid in the new Champions League with Mbappé missing
Liverpool are on their own in Europe. Fifteen points, all wins and just two goals conceded in this new format.
Arne Slot has been able to understand the football that Klopp left him and barely touch the team so that the vertical game continues to light up the stands at Anfield. Premier League leaders despite the anger of Salah, who they do not want to renew and everything points to the fact that he will play in Arabia. Nothing stands in the way of Europe's most in-form club alongside Barcelona.
Real Madrid arrived in Liverpool with many doubts, but with that house speciality with which the believers pass the days between one match and another. The English team brought reality to the white house.
Güler and Brahim led the midfield alongside Camavinga and Modric. Ancelotti is still looking for a replacement for Kroos, but he is not finding the key and that worries the Italian as he shows in the press conferences.
Bellingham is still far from the box and Mbappé is a strange case. Without Vinicius, the Frenchman returned to the wing where he became the best in the world, but now his football is far from what was expected of him. Bad passes and poor dribbling show that Mbappé has a problem and only the dressing room knows what it is.
Real Madrid barely set foot in Liverpool's box. Endrick was biting his nails on the bench because he wants to be the 9 that the team needs, but Ancelotti has too much respect for the stripes. Just ask Asencio, who started in the Champions League due to Militao's serious injury. The home-grown player had a good game and showed that he has a place in this depleted squad.
In the first half, Asencio pulled a ball over the line and Courtois again worked his miracles. But Real Madrid had no punch, only the ability to suffer, especially when after 20 minutes Liverpool's full-backs decided to go up the wing as the Whites were not doing any damage. Moments of agony that Real Madrid dealt with, at least until half-time.
In the second half, Lucas Vázquez and Ceballos were the changes, but Mac Allister ended up scoring first after another good chance that found Courtois. Lucas forced a penalty as soon as he stepped onto the Anfield pitch, but Mbappé's poor form also took its toll on him in something he never fails to do. Kelleher saved the spot-kick and a few minutes later Mendy caused another penalty that Salah missed.
moment. From a corner, Gakpo scored the second and left Real Madrid on the brink of the abyss in Europe. Five games and three defeats. They are 24th in the standings and have three games ahead where they should at least manage to win one to get into the play-offs. Atalanta will be their next destination, the place where they won the European Super Cup in August.
The season for Real Madrid is getting complicated. The squad is unbalanced and the Mbappé-Vinicius pairing is not working. The football construction machine is not working and everyone is already looking to Ancelotti. His inventions don't work and the white football is predictable. No signings seem to be coming in at the back, so everything is in the hands of the Italian's flower and a model of play that allows the team to compete.
