Arne Slot was left marvelling at the performance of Conor Bradley, while Robbie Fowler was also full of praise after his brilliant defensive display helped shut out Vinicius Jnr in Liverpool’s Champions League win over Real Madrid – but perhaps the biggest and most eye-catching praise came from the Anfield faithful.
The Reds put in arguably their best performance of the season as they edged out Xabi Alonso’s side 1-0 at Anfield, thanks to a second-half header from Alexis Mac Allister. But with Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois arguably the best player on the pitch, there was no denying that Liverpool fully deserved their victory.
Indeed, the Spanish giants were limited to just two shots on target throughout the game as Arne Slot’s side made it two successive wins and put in the type of performance that shows they are now fully over their recent blip.
A big part of their ability to silence Real Madrid’s world-class attack was the performance of Bradley at right-back – and fans could not help but praise the Northern Irishman for a brilliant display.
Taking to X, one supporter claimed: ‘Conor Bradley has been world class tonight, he always shows up to the games that mean the most.’
Another claimed: ‘Conor Bradley has given the performance of a lifetime here, I’ve no idea why he hates Madrid so much, but if we could get every player he goes up against to look like Mbappe or Vini we will be sorted.’
A third chipped in: ‘This Conor Bradley is another gem of a player that goes under the radar without being talked about a lot. He’s really dealing with Vinicius on that right wing. Massive performance from him.’
A fourth added: ‘Conor Bradley doing everything he can to make sure Liverpool fans don’t miss Trent Alexander-Arnold against Real Madrid’
The plaudits kept on coming, with another stating: ‘Conor Bradley needs to pretend every opponent is Vinicius Junior. My God!’
A sixth continued: ‘Conor Bradley had beast mode activated and was definitely our best player.’
A seventh marvelled: ‘The formation was spot on. The players responded with style and energy, and Bradley was magnificent. If only he could keep that form.”
It wasn’t just from the terraces, either, that Bradley earned enormous praise, with Slot and media alike all wowed by his display…
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Conor Bradley: What Arne Slot, Robbie Fowler are saying
Slot had words of praise for his entire defensive line, but was particularly impressed by Bradley’s shift, noting: “The whole team defended really well in the high press, in the low block, before adding: “Conor was outstanding.”
The Dutchman added: “To be against Vinicius one-on-one so many times is not for everyone to play a game like this, but [Bradley] did outstanding today.”
Speaking on BBC Sport, former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock declared: “Vinicius Junior hasn’t fancied it one bit. To a man, Liverpool have been exceptional.”
Meanwhile, former England defender Jonathan Woodgate hailed Bradley’s display: “Conor Bradley has done so well tonight. Down that side, he has done really well with Vinicius Junior.”
Speaking on Amazon Prime Video, former Reds striker Robbie Fowler added: “Conor Bradley, wow, he put in an unbelievable performance and if Vinicius Junior gets to his bedroom tonight I’ll be amazed because I think Conor Bradley might be stopping him getting in there.”
Journalist Lewis Steele of the Daily Mail also added on his X feed: ‘Hardly cutting analysis, but Conor Bradley has been incredible so far. Not given Vini a sniff, and his line-breaking passes to Ekitike have been brilliant.
‘Tbh I’m slightly “jury’s out” on how good he actually is, but this is the level. His best game since, er, Real Madrid last year.’
Latest Liverpool news: Reds humbled by Wirtz claim; £202m triple deal claims
Meanwhile, the CEO of Bayer Leverkusen has made a startling claim about Florian Wirtz and Real Madrid that no one at Liverpool will wish to hear.
Wirtz has been slow to find his feet at Anfield, but has now put in his two best displays for the Reds in the Champions League: Tuesday night against Real Madrid and last month away to Eintracht Frankfurt.
In other news, reports on the continent claim Liverpool are planning to spend a further £202m on three new signings in the January window to complete the rebuild of Slot’s side – but TEAMtalk can explain why only one of the trio touted to sign is a realistic target.
Elsewhere, sources have addressed claims that Liverpool are starting to regret signing Milos Kerkez in the summer after the Hungarian’s early struggles to find his feet at Anfield, with our transfer correspondent, Dean Jones, revealing what the Reds’ future plans in the transfer market with regards their full-back department.
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