Liverpool deliver statement win vs Real Madrid to ruin Alexander-Arnold return - 5 talking points

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They were made to wait for a breakthrough against Xabi Alonso's resilient back-line, but Alexis Mac Allister's header set them on their way and the visitors had no answer and were arguably flattered by the narrow margin of defeat.A win at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Reds' previous European game demonstrated they still had goals in the team. Perhaps this was what gave them inspiration in the first half as they peppered their opponents' goal with shots but couldn't find a breakthrough.Liverpool were the closest to an opener inside the first half-hour, only for Thibaut Courtois to stay big to deny Dominik Szoboszlai.

Moments later, the hosts thought they might have had a penalty for handball only for a VAR check to dash their hopes.After the break, Liverpool kept up the tempo and eventually got their reward despite Courtois' best efforts and moved level with their opponents on nine points from four Champions League games. Both Alexis Mac Allister and Hugo Ekitike saw their efforts blocked - Mac Allister's by his team-mate Ryan Gravenberch - but their seemed to be a plan to shoot powerfully and shoot early.Szoboszlai was the next to try his luck, smashing in that effort from 25 yards which struck the arm of Aurelien Tchouameni but didn't bring a penalty.

As he sat on the bench, the home support had a natural pantomime villain to target, though Alexander-Arnold did receive some boos when he eventually arrived, but Conor Bradley's handling of Madrid's left winger may well have been the bigger story for a fair few fans.5. He's showing more, though, even if this wasn't quite, as some had hoped, the moment he truly announced himself.Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content.