Vinicius Jr still trying to escape Conor Bradley’s pocket as Liverpool school Real Madrid amid Alexander-Arnold boos | OneFootball

Liverpool made a colossal statement as they made it back-to-back wins with a fully-deserved 1-0 triumph over a poor Real Madrid side in the Champions League at Anfield, in a game which saw Trent Alexander-Arnold booed on his return and his replacement Conor Bradley completely shut down Vinicius Jr.

The victory for Arne Slot’s was far more convincing than the scoreline suggests, with Alexis Mac Allister finally breaking the deadlock in the second half.

Only the brilliance of Real keeper Thibaut Courtois kept Liverpool at bay, with a string of superb saves, including four from Dominik Szoboszlai and a brilliant reflex stop from Virgil van Dijk’s header.

And, although there were plenty of talking points from a game in which the Reds were back to their sizzling best, Bradley must take so many plaudits after attracting his fair share of criticism this season.

Bradley has long been regarded as the heir apparent to the vacancy left behind by Alexander-Arnold, and the Northern Ireland international showed exactly why with an outstanding display.

Anfield supporters were fully invested in his physical battle with Vinicius Jr, chanting his name while also venting their anger at Alexander-Arnold as he eventually emerged from the bench with just under 10 minutes to go.

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.”

The Liverpool Echo also had high praise for Bradley, giving the defender a 9/10 for his display and commenting: “Dominated the tricky and controversial Vinicius Jnr to such an extent he still found time to break forward regularly. Superb showing against Real once again.”

Slot picks out ‘outstanding’ Bradley display

Bradley’s performance also earned plenty of plaudits from Slot, who, speaking to Amazon Prime, added: “Conor [Bradley] was outstanding. To be up against Vinicius so many times one v one is not for everyone. He did outstanding today.”

As for Liverpool’s overall display, the delighted Dutchman said: “Very pleased. It’s been [some] tricky weeks for us, many away games, hardly any rest in between every single game.

“Again we only had two games in between this game but the same was there for Real Madrid.

“It helps if you can play in front of these fans and you can play in front of Real Madrid because I think that brings the best out of my players and out of our fans.

“A great performance against a team that only lost once all season. It could have been a bit more maybe.”