Liverpool v Real Madrid, Getty Images 04 November 2025, 23:59

The fourth round of the main club competition of the Old World gave us two cosmic confrontations at once. At one time, on one game day. Yes, in this regard, fans with a calendar were clearly out of luck, as it was necessary to split between events at Anfield and Parc des Princes and at the same time not lose the very atmosphere of these magnificent duels.

The English Liverpool and Real Madrid have met each other too often in modern history, so their recent duels can already be considered classic. And this time, Aren Slot’s team came to the confrontation against Xabi Alonso’s team with a slightly worse position in the overall standings, as the “creamy” demonstrated impeccable results against Marseille (2:1), Kairat (5:0) and Juventus (1:0), but the “reds” already managed to lose to Galatasaray (0:1).

However, there were too many individual micro-stories in this game, so it was worth looking at separately from everything else. Because Alonso’s tactics at Anfield did not work. Especially in terms of building Real’s attack, where Madrid could not create anything, despite the opponents’ high defensive line. And somewhere after the middle of the first half, Liverpool began to turn the advantage in possession of the ball into scoring opportunities.

Soboslai was very active in this, shooting and shooting long-range shots, and eventually headed Mac Allister with a free-kick midway through the second half, thanks to which Liverpool took the lead. However, before that, the “reds” had so many goal-scoring opportunities of various types that it is surprising that they scored a “so late” ball.

But even this has a simple explanation, which consists of just two words – Thibaut Courtois. Definitely Real Madrid’s best player on the pitch this evening, and if it wasn’t for Mack Allister’s 61st minute header, should have been the clear best for both teams. Especially after the start of the second half with three sharp corner kicks from the home team with final shots by van Dijk and Ekitike, it was something to talk about. But Real did miss. Could have missed a lot more. But to score on your own… here Alonso’s team was clearly behind.

In the next round, England’s Liverpool will play a home match against PSV of the Netherlands, while Real Madrid will visit Greece’s Olympiakos.

Real: Courtois – Valverde (Diaz, 90), Militao, Huysen, Carreras – Guler (Alexander-Arnold, 82), Camavinga (Rodrigo, 69), Chuameni, Vinicius – Bellingham, Mbappe.

Warning: Soboslai – Vinicius, Huysen, Bellingham, Carreras