(Video) One Conor Bradley moment which left Vinicius floored was pure perfection | OneFootball

Conor Bradley simply loves playing against Real Madrid!

The Liverpool right-back provided one of the highlights of the Reds’ 2-0 win over Los Blancos last year when he clattered into Kylian Mbappe with a robust but fair challenge, and on Tuesday he again rattled Bernabeu attacking royalty.

Many young defenders would be cowed by the task of trying to curb the influence of Vinicius Junior, but the 22-year-old was so accomplished last night that the Brazilian was left resorting to embarrassing theatrics to try and redress the balance of that head-to-head a bit more in his favour.

Bradley made one perfect tackle on Vinicius

There was one particular moment in the second half which was nothing short of pure perfection from Bradley as he left the Real Madrid attacker sprawling.

With Liverpool 1-0 to the good and the visitors trying to conjure a late equaliser, Vinicius accelerated ahead of our number 12 and got to the byline, shaping to put in a cross. However, the Northern Ireland international got back to execute a perfectly-timed challenge and poke the ball away for a corner kick.

The challenge had to be flawless from the Reds right-back, as otherwise he’d have conceded a free kick just outside the penalty area and probably picked up the yellow card which would’ve seen him suspended for our next Champions League game against PSV Eindhoven.

Image via @sbzcomps on X

Bradley was sublime for Liverpool last night

Much of the pre-match discourse was dominated by a former Liverpool right-back, but it’s the man currently occupying that position who was rightly on everyone’s lips after putting in a Herculean performance.

Indeed, while Bradley was putting on a masterclass throughout the night, Trent Alexander-Arnold had to be content with the final 10 minutes off the bench, with the home crowd revelling in that contrast in fortunes by chanting the name of our number 12.

It doesn’t require recourse to statistics to verify how excellently the 22-year-old played, but the numbers still make for impressive reading – eight duels won, three tackles made, three successful dribbles and one key pass (Sofascore).

The Northern Ireland defender was superb from first whistle to last, and that immaculate challenge on Vinicius (to which the Liverpool man reacted with delightful nonchalance) summed up his magnificent performance as he more than had the measure of the 2024 Ballon d’Or runner-up.

You can view the highlights of Bradley’s performance against Real Madrid below (with his tackle on Vinicius at 2:31), via @sbzcomps on X:

You can watch Slot’s full post-Real Madrid press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: