Liverpool made a statement in the UEFA Champions League with a 2-0 win over Real Madrid at Anfield, keeping their perfect record in the competition intact and ending a poor run of form against Los Blancos.
The Reds made a bright start, with Darwin Núñez drawing an early save from Thibaut Courtois after Raúl Asencio had headed the danger away on his UCL debut. The intensity on the pitch was palpable, with Virgil van Dijk’s robust challenge on Kylian Mbappé setting the tone. Núñez remained at the heart of Liverpool’s attack, seeing a header go narrowly wide and a close-range effort thwarted by Courtois.
The breakthrough came after the break when Alexis Mac Allister combined with Conor Bradley to curl a low shot past Courtois, opening the scoring. Moments later, Caoimhín Kelleher denied Mbappé from the penalty spot, maintaining Liverpool’s clean sheet. Although Mohamed Salah missed a penalty after dazzling Ferland Mendy, the Reds doubled their advantage when Cody Gakpo powered home a Robertson cross with a towering header.
Real Madrid, woefully out of form, did not manage a single shot on target and slumped to a third successive European defeat, while Liverpool cemented their place at the top of the group and underlined their credentials as contenders for Europe’s biggest prize.
