Real Madrid crashed to their first defeat of the Champions League campaign in 2025/26 as they lost 1-0 to Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday night. The winning goal came courtesy of an Alexis MacAllister
header in the second half as Los Blancos were limited to few chances and failed to breakdown the Premier League champions, eventually leaving empty-handed.
Three answers
1. Does Xabi Alonso have a strongest XI?
There was little doubt coming into this game about the line-up that Xabi Alonso could field in this game, only days after he fielded the same side against Barcelona. The invention of Eduardo Camavinga as a right winger, and the option of keeping Fede Valverde at right-back, seems to be the system which the coach has opted for in both of the high-stakes fixtures of late. It reflects what he appears to believe to be his best team available, but also the side which gave him his best result as Real Madrid coach. At Anfield, it was much less effective than it had been against Barcelona, perhaps because it was a replica of the same approach and Liverpool had prepared to nullify exactly that. Alonso has made his inconsistency of systems and selections a strength, here he opted to go against that.
2. What reception would Trent Alexander-Arnold get?
In the closing stages of the 2024/25 campaign, when it was already clear that Trent Alexander-Arnold would join Real Madrid, there was a mixed reaction at Anfield for their right-back. Now returning for the first time, donning the white jersey of Real Madrid, he was mercilessly booed by the entire stadium, not only when brought on, but also with every touch. Added to the vandalism of a mural to him only hours before the game, it was evident that any reputation that he had built up on Merseyside had been tarnished. The Englishman can take the positive of being back in action, but the emotional toll was clear on his face as the fans who used to sing his name booed him immensely at every involvement.
3. Could Kylian Mbappé stay top of the scoring charts?
Returning to Anfield, the scene of his lowest point as a Real Madrid player with the penalty miss 12 months ago, Kylian Mbappé had a chance to secure his place as the competition’s top scorer ahead of Harry Kane of Bayern Munich, who was the only other player to match his five goals in three games heading into this tie. Instead, he failed to register a shot on target for the first time since August, when he failed to do so in the 2-1 win over Mallorca. The Frenchman was kept quiet by a well-organised Liverpool defence who didn’t allow Real Madrid to generate much of a threat, with only 0.45 expected goals and only two shots on target all evening.
Three questions
1. Why are set pieces so problematic this season?
If the nightmare of the Madrid derby had almost been forgotten, it came creeping back in to haunt Real Madrid in a post-Halloween scare when Alexis MacAllister headed beyond Thibaut Courtois. The snapshot was eerily similar to that of Robin Le Normand’s header past the Belgian in September. It’s a surprising problem which appears to be challenging Xabi Alonso and his technical staff. Despite investing much more time in game preparation and tactics than previously, Real Madrid are struggling with set pieces more than at any other time in recent years. Here again, MacAllister was left with space to head in, despite being far from the tallest player in the box. The absence of the defensive leaders like Antonio Rüdiger or Dani Carvajal surely plays a factor, but Alonso must address this quickly, or go for a more direct man-marking approach, if he is to stamp this out.
2. When will be time for Trent Alexander-Arnold?
The introduction of Trent Alexander-Arnold on 81 minutes allowed the Englishman to get his first minutes under his belt since September, and also to hear a rough reception from what used to be his home crowd. It was perhaps telling that there was little expectation that he would start this game, despite injury to Dani Carvajal, after he failed to get any minutes against Valencia at the weekend. It seems a sign of his fitness, more than Xabi Alonso making a judgement call, as much as Liverpool fans may chant to the contrary, but it does put pressure on the right-back. Having now got minutes, he could come into contention again for Sunday’s game against Rayo Vallecano, and five months after joining, Real Madrid fans will be demanding more from one of their high-profile summer signings who has only started seven games for the club so far, most of them at the Club World Cup.
3. Is this defeat a problem?
The format of the Champions League since the transition to the league phase means that this defeat doesn’t have too big an impact. The away draw against a pot one side was always going to be the toughest of the eight fixtures, and Real Madrid already know what it’s like to lose at Anfield and progress as that’s exactly what happened a year ago. The impact could be felt more psychologically, and not so much as a negative, but as a missed opportunity. After a huge win in the Clásico, finally dispelling concerns about the abilities of this team in the ‘high-profile’ fixtures against elite sides, it would have been the perfect follow-up to add to it on Merseyside. Failure to do so is unlikely to be remembered long-term or impact the team’s chances of silverware, but it does mean that there could be an additional nerve or two when Manchester City rock up at the Bernabéu in a month’s time for the next ‘big’ game.
