Liverpool put in an
excellent home display en route to a commanding 1-0 win over Real
Madrid at Anfield in the Champions
League. Check out the best facts and Opta data from the game
with our Liverpool vs Real Madrid stats page.
Liverpool
made it consecutive wins for the first time since September with a
well-deserved 1–0 victory over Real Madrid at Anfield in the
Champions League. Alexis Mac Allister scored the only goal just
after the hour mark as Arne Slot’s side built on the positive
momentum from their Premier League win against Aston Villa last
weekend.
In truth, the 1–0 scoreline probably flattered the visitors, who
would have been beaten far more comfortably were it not for the
heroics of Thibaut
Courtois.
This was a much-needed, hugely encouraging performance from the
Reds, who showed none of the signs of a side supposedly in the
midst of a crisis. They were worthy victors: Liverpool generated
2.58 expected goals and restricted Madrid to just 0.45 at the other
end.
For much of the game it felt like the contest was distilled into
two duels. One down Liverpool’s right, where Conor
Bradley was tasked with shutting down Vinícius
Júnior. The other inside Real Madrid’s goal, where Courtois
seemed intent on single-handedly denying first
Dominik Szoboszlai and then the entire Liverpool team.
Three times in the first half the Belgian was at full stretch to
frustrate the Hungarian, and the first of those saves was genuinely
world-class.
Florian
Wirtz – who without a doubt enjoyed his best outing in a
Liverpool shirt – raced onto a loose ball behind the Madrid defence
and squared perfectly for Szoboszlai, who had only Courtois to
beat. But the Madrid goalkeeper raced off his line, made himself
huge and somehow blocked the effort.
That chance was one of five created by Wirtz before the break,
the most by any Liverpool player in the first half of a match in
any competition since Mohamed Salah did so against Brentford in
January 2025.
Seeing Courtois repel Liverpool in the Champions League felt
familiar. Tonight saw him make four or more first-half saves in a
Champions League match for the seventh time in his career; three of
those occasions have come against Liverpool.
Saves five and six arrived just after the restart. First,
Courtois somehow clawed away Virgil van Dijk’s point-blank header.
From the resulting corner, Hugo Ekitike rose to power a header
goalwards, only for Courtois to extend himself yet again. Both Van
Dijk and Ekitike could only smile in disbelief: “We’re being done
by Courtois again, aren’t we?” their wry smiles seemed to say.
But one man can only do so much. After Jude Bellingham conceded
a soft free-kick on the edge of the area, Szoboszlai whipped in a
wicked delivery and Mac Allister simply needed the slightest glance
to divert it past Courtois.
Madrid struggled to create throughout the game. Kylian
Mbappé produced their best chance, side-footing across goal
from a Vinícius square ball.
Even the introduction of
Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was greeted by a chorus of boos on
his return to Anfield, failed to add a spark to Xabi Alonso’s
side.
Overall, Madrid managed just eight shots worth 0.45 xG, their
lowest tally in any competition in more than a year (0.47 vs
Villarreal in La Liga, October 2024).
Despite a wobble in their Premier League title defence,
Liverpool are making good progress in Europe, with three wins from
four games. If they can transfer the intensity from tonight into
their domestic fixtures, they’ll remain a serious threat on all
fronts.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the
Liverpool vs Real Madrid stats from their Champions League meeting
at Anfield.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected
goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives
you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats
on the game as well.
Liverpool vs Real Madrid: Select Post-Match
Facts
Liverpool went winless in eight consecutive UEFA Champions
League meetings with Real Madrid between 2014-15 and 2022-23 (D1
L7), but have now beaten Los Blancos in both of the last two
seasons.
Only Bayern Munich (11), Juventus (9) and Milan (7) have
inflicted more defeats on Real Madrid in the European Cup/UEFA
Champions League than Liverpool (5 – level with Internazionale and
Manchester City).
Real Madrid recorded just two shots on target tonight, their
fewest in a UEFA Champions League game since their 1-0 win over
Liverpool in the 2021-22 final (also 2) – they didn’t manage a
single one in the second half, the first time that has happened
since the 2023-24 quarter finals at the Etihad against Manchester
City.
Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister scored his third goal in the
UEFA Champions League and first since last November, when he also
put the Reds 1-0 up at Anfield against Real Madrid.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois conceded with the first
shot on target he faced against Marseille on MD1 of this season’s
UEFA Champions League, but then made 19 consecutive saves in the
competition before he was beaten with Liverpool’s eighth shot on
target tonight.
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